Auto words cheat for Friends is a free iOS game for iPhone and iPad. It’s also available on Android, but I haven’t played it there yet.

The rules of the game are simple — you use tiles that represent letters from different languages to form words, then try to score points by forming combinations of letters that create longer words.

It’s easy to get sucked into Words with Friends. The game has been downloaded more than 5 million times, and for good reason. It’s fun, addictive, and challenging.

If you’re looking to improve your scores, here are five tips you can follow.

1. Play the Right Tiles

When you first start playing Words with Friends, you’ll see a “Start Game” button at the bottom left corner of the screen. Tap this, and you’ll be taken to a list of all the different letter tiles you can choose to play with. You’ll have access to tiles representing almost every alphabetical letter combination, as well as some special tiles like “Z” or “W”.

Some tiles will allow you to win faster when they appear in the word you’re trying to make. Others will give you bonus points if you use them in combination with other tiles. For example, the tile “K” (which stands for “K”rab) allows you to make a four-letter word with any three other tiles in the game. But it only gives you two additional points per tile, instead of its usual three.

You don’t need to memorize all these numbers, but knowing how many points each tile provides you will help you decide which tiles to use in a given situation. For example, if you want to make an eight-letter word using a single tile, you should avoid using one that provides less than 10 points.

2. Don’t Rush Your Words

Don’t rush when creating words. This may seem obvious, but it’s worth mentioning because so often we rush while playing Words with Friends.

For instance, say you want to make a six-letter word with three tiles. If you pick a tile with 20 points, you might think it’s safe to go ahead and make the word. But what if the tile with 20 points turns out to be one of the rarer ones?

You could end up wasting time trying to fill the remaining spaces with tiles that give you fewer points. Instead, wait until you have enough points to do the entire job. Then you won’t risk giving yourself a bad score just because you didn’t finish quickly enough.

3. Know When to Use Blanks

Sometimes you will have to make a blank space rather than place a letter. A blank space is represented by a “P” tile. In general, you should always take a blank space whenever you can.

But sometimes a blank space will provide you with a better chance of scoring higher than placing a letter. Say you have a choice between a P tile that costs six points and one that costs seven. And let’s say that the former has a chance of turning a five-letter word into a nine-letter word, but the latter doesn’t.

In that case, you should probably take the P tile, even though it costs more. Not only does it increase your chances of making a long word, but it can also turn a five-letter word into a six-letter one if you get lucky.

Blank spaces are particularly helpful when you use tiles that combine multiple letters together. Let’s say you have a choice between a Q tile that costs ten points and an O tile that costs eleven. But the O tile allows you to make a five-letter word with all the letters from another tile, whereas the Q tile only lets you make a four-letter word. So again, you should take the O tile.

4. Consider the Word Length of Your Choice

As mentioned earlier, if you’re trying to make a six-letter word with three tiles, it makes sense to pick the best three tiles that you can. But what if you’re trying to make a seven-letter word? Or a nine-letter word?

In those cases, you have to consider whether you’d actually prefer to make a shorter word. Sometimes you’ll find that a longer word will result in more points for you. Other times, you’ll find that a shorter word will give you more flexibility to work around any problem tiles that pop up.

This is why you shouldn’t automatically pick the longest possible word. Instead, ask yourself whether it would actually benefit you to make a shorter word.

5. Make Sure Each Letter Is Used Appropriately

Each letter has the potential to make several different words. Some letters are very versatile, allowing you to create lots of different words with them. Others are much more limited, providing you with only a few options.

To determine which letters fall into which category, look at the number of words that contain each letter. Letters that tend to show up in more words are generally easier to score well with. On the other hand, letters that rarely appear in common words are harder to rely upon.

For example, let’s say you want to make a five-letter word with two tiles. One of them is “M,” which typically appears in words like “mute,” “muscle,” and “music.” The other is “V,” which usually shows up in words like “valve,” “vehicle,” and “virus.”

Now imagine that you pick a V tile instead of a M tile. What would happen to your score?

Well, since “V” is a little rarer than “M,” you’re going to be able to make a five-letter word with the V tile. But it’s not going to be a five-letter word that contains the letter “M,” so that’s not good news. And since “V” is a pretty short tile, you’re going to struggle to make a five-letter word with it.

On the other hand, you could also pick a M tile instead of a V tile. That way, you don’t care that the “M” isn’t part of your word; you’re just happy that you were able to build a five-letter word in the first place.