Words With Friends Defends Alec Baldwin, Spelling “Let Alec Play”

Image credit: Twitpic

Words With Friends, the Scrabble-like game for mobile devices, released a photo to TMZ that spells out the phrase “Let Alec Play” after the “30 Rock” star Alec Baldwin was reportedly kicked off an American Airlines  flight from Los Angeles to New York for playing the game on Tuesday.

The score on the game reads: A Baldwin 1, American Air 0.

“Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving,” Baldwin tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

Words With Friends was released in 2009 by Newtoy, which was then acquired by Zynga. The game, which can be played on the iPhone, iPad and Android, consists of multiple players taking turns to build words on a crossword-style board. Up to 20 games can be played simultaneously and the rules mirror Scrabble’s. It’s also available on Facebook.

The game’s rise in popularity has been linked to singer John Mayer, who reportedly in October 2009 declared that the game was “the new Twitter.” According to Inside Social Games, in November, the game had 4.4 million daily active users.

Earlier this year, actress Eliza Dushku reportedly asked her Twitter followers to find her on WWF: “Let’s play Words With Friends.”

Even on Facebook, profile statuses on any given day are dotted with requests for new players or celebrations of a high score.

Julie Frahm of New York City told ABC News today that she started losing sleep because of WWF about six months ago.  ”I’m completely addicted to it,” said Frahm who plays on her iPad. “It’s just completely fun.”

She said that she had seven or eight games going right now and that one friend was a diehard fan.

“She texts me, ‘Are you OK?’” Frahm said. “You haven’t made a move in eight hours.”

Frahm said she once received a triple-digit score with one word. “I felt a huge sense of satisfaction,” she said with a laugh. “I keep telling myself I’m not getting dumber by doing this.”

The game is free with ads, $2.99 if you want to get rid of them.