Stroop

About this board game

Stroop is a real-time observation game for 2–4 players that plays in about 15 minutes, challenging players to match cards by visual details rather than meaning.

Each card shows a single word, but the word can appear in different colors, sizes, and styles, with varying numbers of letters. Colors include black, red, blue, and yellow; sizes are big or little; styles are hollow or solid; and words contain three, four, five, or six letters.

• Read one word while ignoring the meaning of the other.
• Match cards using their displayed qualities.
• Race in real time to change the center card.

In the first round, players receive an equal number of cards, and one card is turned face-up in the center to start a pile. Everyone races to find a card in their deck that the center card describes, then places it on top of the pile. The newly played card becomes the next card to match, and play continues until one player runs out of cards.

The second round uses the same general racing format, but reverses the eligibility rule. This time, a card may be played only when its text describes the qualities of the card currently in the center. The player with the fewest cards remaining wins.

Based on the psychological Stroop Effect, Stroop turns interference between different brain functions into a tense test of observation and quick recognition. Its changing combinations of word length, color, size, and style keep every card comparison focused on what is shown—not simply what is written.