Stop is the newest iPad game sweeping the halls of Cathedral Prep. This game, in my opinion, is the new Quiz Up. The game bears a remarkable resemblance to the popular board game Scategories.
In Stop, you are assigned categories, and then you spin a wheel to get one of the 26 letters of the alphabet. You then have to enter a word into one of five boxes that begins with your given letter and fits into the box’s category. Once you fill your desired number of boxes, you slide a button down the screen to “Stop!” the game.
Strategies
Stopping it quick: As previously stated, once you finish filling in the boxes, you slide the button to “Stop!” the game. Many people make the mistake of using as much time as the clock allows to attempt to fill in all the boxes, when really they should strategize how much time you give to your opponent. Getting three or four of the categories many times will be more than your opponent, but sometimes getting just one is enough. If you type in one correct answer very fast and then stop the game, you will catch your opponent by surprise with your speed, and they probably won’t have even entered in one word. Giving them only 5-10 seconds is a tried and true strategy for success.
Expand your vocabulary: It’s clear that some letters lend themselves to thinking of words easier than others. Here are some words that may be of use with the more difficult letters:
J
jumping bean, jazz, jar, java
K
kale, kilogram, Kim Possible, kettle
O
Orville and Wilbur Wright, ovulation, omnipotence, operation
P
potassium, prankster, pillow fight, poop
Q
quail, quill, quintessential, queen
U
Uganda, Ulysses, Utopia, utter
V
viscosity, Viagra, violent, vanilla
W
women, Wyoming, Wikipedia, witty
X
X Factor, xylophone, xenophobia, X Men
Y
yellowtail, yeast, yearning, Yeller
Z
zebra, zany, zip line, zesty
Memorize your categories: When starting a new round, Stop shuffles the categories up, then gives you 5 categories. Once your categories show up you have to click to continue on to the spinner that chooses your letter. It is a very common thing to get your categories and just click on to the next stage; however, elite Stop players take advantage of this opportunity. A smart player will memorize his or her categories and then click to move onto the letter spinner. This enables you to think of words for your categories when you see the letter. Stop gives you three seconds to decide if you like that letter or if you want to re-spin. If you can’t think of words for your letter use credits to spin again. This takes us into the next tip.
Use your Stop credits: While playing Stop you win credits. These credits can be used to pick specific categories, get word hints, re-spin for a new letter, or reshuffle all of your categories. Anyway you use them the Stop credits are helpful. What matters the most though is that you use them. Many times people hoard their credits and are unwilling to use them. This is pointless. The credits can’t be used for anything else in the game, so you might as well use them. It’s what they are there for.
Always guess: Many times people stop the timer too quickly. If you answer four or even three of the five categories within 15-20 seconds you are setting yourself up in a good situation. Don’t stop the time though just to force your opponent to be quick. If you have time to spare you should always fill in the other categories. And even if you don’t know a word, guess a word. Half of a star or a rare word could make the difference from winning to losing.
As you can tell, it’s great game, and its popularity isn’t going to “Stop!” any time soon.