Two weeks ago we listed the ten highest-scoring words played in UniWords between 8 and 21 September. Here is number one, replayed on the board it was played on: SYNCED for 216 points, laid as the very first move of a random-board game.
How a 12-point word becomes 216
On plain squares SYNCED is worth 12 points: S 1, Y 4, N 1, C 3, E 1, D 2. In UniWords’ random-board mode the premium squares are shuffled before the game starts, and in this game two triple-word squares and a double-word square ended up in the same column, right next to the centre. The opening word covered all three at once, so the score was multiplied by 3, by 3 again and by 2: 12 × 18 = 216. No bingo bonus, no cross-words, just a six-letter word in exactly the right place.
For comparison, the same word on a standard board’s opening move would score 24 at most: the centre square doubles the word, and no triple-word square is within reach on move one. That is the trade-off of random boards. Openings can be worth ten times more, and both players see the layout before they play, so spotting the double-triple lane before your opponent does is the whole game.
Watch it on YouTube
Try a random board yourself
UniWords is free, has no ads and runs on iOS, Android and in the browser at play.uniwords.io. Start a game, pick random board, and check the column and row through the centre before you lay your first word. Every English word is checked against a dictionary powered by data from Oxford Languages, and every board we publish is rendered from the real game.
