How to play Stop, the categories word game: rules, scoring and tips
· Polar Games
Stop is a categories word game played all over Latin America and Europe, where it also goes by names like adedonha, basta and tutti frutti. A letter is drawn, everyone writes a word starting with it for each category, and the first player to finish calls Stop! and ends the round for everybody.
This guide covers the most common rules, a simple way to score, and a few tips for when your mind goes blank. At the end you will find how to play Stop online in your browser.
What you need
On paper, each player needs a sheet and a pen. Every sheet becomes a grid: one column per category, one row per round. Online, the game handles the grid, the letter draw and the timing.
How a round works
- Draw a letter. With friends, one person runs through the alphabet silently until someone else says "stop".
- Everyone writes, at the same time, one word starting with that letter for every category.
- The first player to fill every category calls Stop! and everyone puts their pen down.
- Answers are checked category by category and the points are added up.
Classic categories
The usual ones are first name, country or city, animal, colour, fruit, object and job. You can swap in any theme your group enjoys, as long as everyone agrees before the first round. There is a longer list, sorted by difficulty, in our Stop categories guide.
How to score
Most groups use a simple rule, though every table has its own variant:
- 10 points for a valid answer nobody else wrote.
- 5 points for a valid answer someone else also wrote.
- 0 points for a blank, an invalid answer or a word that does not start with the letter.
House rules that prevent arguments
- Agree up front whether plurals, proper nouns and foreign words count.
- Decide whether a spelling mistake cancels an answer.
- When in doubt, the group votes. A strange answer is often the best laugh of the night.
Tips to play better
- Read every category before you commit to the first answer.
- If one category stalls, skip it and come back when a word pops up.
- Go for less obvious answers: they are more likely to score full points.
- Hard letters such as Q, X and Y are often left out of the draw. Settle that at the start.
How to play Stop online with friends
Polar Games' Stop! runs in your browser with nothing to install. A letter is drawn, you fill in the categories and the first to call Stop! ends the round. The game then compares the answers and adds up the points.
Join an open room (the game puts you in the fullest one, even mid-match), create a room for your friends, choose the rules and send the link, or practise solo against bots. There are daily, weekly and monthly rankings. Because matches run on a real-time server, everyone sees the round end at the same moment.