Letterpress Strategies

I've been playing Letterpress on iOS for a while now. It's a great puzzle game; sort of a hybrid of scrabble and chess. If you haven't tried it yet, give it a shot!

Long story short, I got pretty good at it, and I'd like to share some strategies with you. They're somewhat ordered from the most basic to the most advanced. Without further ado, here they are:

If blue takes the "M" tile, Red can
 win the game on the next turn
with "FULLY". 

Mind the endgame.

One of the first and most important things I learned about letterpress is that you could be winning by a hefty number of points, and the next turn you lose the game. Always ask yourself, can your opponent close the board with the next turn after you've made yours? And if so, will they outscore you? Sometimes you will have to purposely not use an open tile, making it less likely for the opponent to use all the remaining open tiles to win the game.

The scores may be even, but blue
has the advantage with three
blocked tiles

Blocking tiles is what matters most.

Even if you just used half the tiles on the board, if you didn't block them off, they can easily turn over to your opponent.

Don't be fooled by the running score. The score only matters at the end of the game. Oftentimes, using shorter words that block more tiles is better that using longer words that don't block as many tiles.

Block corners first. 

Blue blocked off "E", which is the
most commonly used letter in
English. He could've blocked "D",
But there are three of those on
the board.

Corner tiles are the easiest to block, since they only require two adjacent tiles. Sides need three adjacent tiles, and the tiles in the middle of the board need four.
If you have the first turn, try blocking corners on your first move. It will provide for a nice head start. If a corner is already blocked by your opponent, try blocking a different corner.

Block commonly used letters with rarest occurrence on the board. 

Think vowels, especially "E". If there is only one "E" on the board, and it's in a corner, try to block it off. It will be very easy for you to defend, and hard for your opponent to take.

Blue left "Q" for the last turn.

Blocking hard letters. 

Letters that are hard to use, like "Q" or "Z" don't necessarily have to be blocked off. They will be harder (or impossible) to use for the opponent anyway. However, you can also use these letters to either securely block other tiles, or to detract the opponent from blocking his.

Save super-hard letters for endgame. 

Sometimes there is only one possible word you can make with a certain letter, and it's a short word. If you use it too soon, you may be giving your opponent a free turn to block more tiles.

Don't let blocked tiles lead you away from using them. 

If blue needs one "F" in his word,
It's better for him to use the one
that's already taken by his
opponent.

They won't turn over to you, but they are still very much in play, and can let you make better and longer words. In the example above, Blue can play "QIS" to win the game, even though "I" is blocked off.

Turning over vs. taking a new tile. 

The same letter can often be found on both an unused tile and a tile that has been taken by your opponent (but not blocked). Unless taking the unused tile will block another tile, it is almost always better to turn over your opponent's tile.

Double-block. 

Blue has "E" double-blocked.
It's highly unlikely that Red will
ever take it back.

Blocking tiles is good, but blocking tiles that block the said tile is even better. Aim for a solid, continuous block of tiles, rather than blocking on the opposite sides of the board. Sometimes your opponent will want to take a specific blocked tile. A single-blocked tile can be turned over to your opponent in just two turns, but a double-blocked tile is generally not worth consideration.

Defend. 

Unblock the opponent's tiles. Your primary goal is to block as many tiles as you can, but if you think a turn ahead, you can chip away at blocked tiles, and take them in two turns. When you spot your opponent setting up to take a lot of tiles, it's time to turn over the tiles that would allow them to do so. If you can block tiles at the same time, all the better.

Mutations. 

Some words have different forms, like plural or past tense. In most cases, the longer form of the word is the one you should use, since the shorter form will then count as having been played, and cannot be used again. For example, if both "RIVER" and "RIVERS" can be played, choose the latter; "RIVER" can no longer be played after you've played "RIVERS". However, there are exceptions.

Both "FRIED" and "FRIES" are
possible. In this case, avoid the
word altogether.

Firstly, if the word's shorter form is not actually part of the longer form,  consider how many tiles can be turned over if the opponent chooses the other form of the word. For example, if you play "STRATEGIES", the opponent can still play "STRATEGY", possibly to his  advantage. In many cases, it is better to choose a different word entirely.

The same goes for anagrams. If you play "USURPERS", the opponent can play "PURSUERS", potentially turning over all of the tiles used in that word. Again, in this case it's probably better to come up with a different word.

Lastly, if a word has more than two forms, like a plural form of the noun and a past tense of the verb, it may be better to play the short form of the word. For instance, if "SURPRISED", "SURPRISES", and "SURPRISED" are all on the board, it may be better to play "SURPRISE", so that if your opponent plays "SURPRISES", you can then play "SURPRISED", thereby turning the tiles over to yourself.

Remember, this mutation strategy is to be used for tiles that you do not block. If you do block them, you needn't be worried about the next turn.

It's not obvious, but Blue can play
"FIZZY" on the next turn to block
four tiles, and also unblock
Red's "S"!

Scatter. 

This is an advanced strategy that requires you to think both about your opponent's next turn and about yours. I use this when there are no good ways to block off many tiles in a single turn. The trick is to make two words to be played: one that would be hard for the opponent to turn over, and a second word that will "fill in" the adjacent tiles and block a number of tiles. This is quite hard for the opponent to defend against, unless they guess what the second word is, or can otherwise block the tiles you're after.

Review the word list. 

You never know when someone missed a word form, or when you can think of a combination of two words already on the list, or just use the list as a reminder of possible prefixes, suffixes, and endings that help you form longer words.

Write down words that you think of.

Say you've thought of a nice long word, but it doesn't make the cut for the current turn, because it doesn't block enough tiles. Save it for a later turn. This is especially useful if you're playing several Letterpress games at once.

Last but not least, be vigilant. 

If your opponent makes a mistake, like not going for the plural, use it as an opportunity to undo their turn. And remember, winning with a score 13-12 is still winning!