If there’s one thing that can get my wife to play games against me on the iPhone, it’s word games. She loves word games because they require a bit more thought when playing them and most of the time, she wins. That’s why I’m always on the lookout for new word games we can play with each other because honestly, I rather have a game we can both play and lose at than have no games to play against each other at all. So the latest word game introduced to me is WordStop, This game is actually quite different from your usual word game where you are actually trying to complete a word. With WordStop, the object of the game is to not complete a word and to force your opponent to.

Basically how the game works is whoever starts out the match, must first think of a word, let’s say “buzz.” Take any letter of that word and place it on the board, which I’ll use “Z” as an example. Your opponent must now add a letter to this of what they think the word is. They could also be thinking of buzz, or let’s say they think the word is “dazzle” and decides to at an “L” to the end of the Z. This means that the original word is no longer buzz and is now something entirely different. This can go back and forth a few rounds until the following is on the board, “azzle.” If it’s my turn, I do not want to add a “d” to the beginning as that finishes the word dazzle, which mean I would lose the game. Instead, I could add the letter “S” to the end making the word “azzles.” That’s still not a completed word. My opponent would have to come up with something that could keep this going but most likely they’ll either put down the D and lose or add a letter that doesn’t even make a real word and still lose. And yes, making up words that don’t exist will make you lose automatically. I would check out the video below for a better explanation.

That’s pretty much how the entire game plays. It’s a back and forth match to see who can keep adding letters on to a word without ever completing it. Word game addicts will love this game as it’s something very different. With a game like this, I actually have a slightly better chance of winning, though not by much.

Overall, WordStop is a fun, fresh, new style of word game that is both familiar and different. You of course need to find another person to play with in order to make the game fun and you can find players via Facebook, by username, by email, or just pick a random player to play. Of course like with any new game, you may not find any players at all at first. Just try to convince your word game loving friends to join up.

App Store Link: WordStop
Version: 1.0.2
Developer: Word Play Limited
Price: $0.99
Compatible Devices: siPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.