The Future Of Words With Friends

In 2008, two brothers created their first mobile iPhone app, Chess With Friends. From the money they earned from that app, Words With Friends was created, enabling each player to engage in multiple games at the same time. In 2010, Zynga paid those brothers, the owners of NewToy, a whopping $53 million and retained them to run the new Zynga With Friends office.

The aesthetic that the brothers employ is the old-time family vibe of sitting around the table playing board games. The objective is to create the table, instead of the game. The trick to this whole phenomenon has been the in-app social component functionality. The types of games that can be fused into this template are endless. Instead of everyone sitting around the dining room table to play their favorite board game, they can sit in the living room on the couch with their smartphone or tablet.

Hanging With Friends and Scramble With Friends have been released recently, as well as the Facebook debut of Words With Friends. Early estimates have Scramble With Friends users playing over 7 million rounds daily. For those that do not know, Scramble With Friends is a variation on the classic board game of Boggle.

Communication within the game has sparked the most intrigue and appeal for the With Friends brand. Keeping connected with friends and family has been one of the main drivers of the app, especially if they are living in other cities or states. Having minimal and very simple instructions is the key to getting users active immediately. Sound effects, color palettes, formatting templates and verbage are all variables that make the With Friends experience so unique.

Paying attention to the needs and wants of their users, an update was quickly dispatched that changed the dynamics of the virtual token system on the premium version of Scramble With Friends. Initially, the token system was limiting the number of games a user could play.

Moving forward, the With Friends brand is firmly entrenched in bringing nostalgia to the forefront. Reminiscing about youth is part of the mystique, associated with these gaming apps. Certain pen-and-paper or board games are etched into our collective consciousness, as a society. With Friends mobile apps are setting out to bring them back to the forefront.

Much like life, mobile app development is like social Darwinism. The strong get stronger and the weak perish. If the development company does not evolve with technology and stay on the cutting edge of creativity and idea creation, they will soon be overshadowed by rival companies and the technology itself, much like the VHS or Beta video cassette.

In-app purchases, currency and virtual items are important revenue streams now, but what will those look like in a few years? By implementing the virtual token system in Scramble With Friends, the developers are experimenting with new changes to the mobile app economy.

One aspect of survival in this mobile economy that has been overlooked is the subtle difference between the iOS and Android platforms. Each operating system has different economies. Preferences for each type of user are different, as well. Android users tend to enjoy the freemium and low priced items, also expecting more free content. iOS users aren't as concerned with the price of the app.

A new phenomenon that has not gone unnoticed is that when a major With Friends app is released on both platforms, growth occurs with both systems, which is a real acknowledgment to the universal appeal of the social functionality. Thanks to the Android users' new-found ability to challenge iOS users, the number of people to challenge has grown. Zynga With Friends has several hurdles to cross in the next few years and it will be interesting to see how they approach and overcome the challenges.