Gwakkamole vs Stroop!
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Gwakkamole
This game trains inhibitory control, a key executive function, through engaging gameplay. Players must quickly identify and smash specific targets while avoiding others to improve cognitive skills. It's part of a research-backed suite developed by leading universities.
- Inhibitory control training
- Executive function development
- Engaging target-smashing gameplay
- Research-backed cognitive training
- Part of Smart Suite
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Gwakkamole is a game designed to train inhibitory control, a subskill of executive functions. Inhibitory control involves being able to control one’s attention, behavior, thoughts, and/or emotions to override a strong internal predisposition or external lure, and instead do what’s more appropriate or needed (Diamond, 2013). Players need to smash avocados that have no hat or that tip their hat but avoid smashing avocados with spiky hats or with electric hats. How does this support learning? Executive functions refer to a set of top-down, goal-oriented cognitive processes that enable people to control, monitor and plan behaviors and emotions. Miyake and Friedman’s model supports a unity-and-diversity view of EF in that it incorporates the three distinct but related components of EF: inhibitory control, task-switching and updating (Miyake et al., 2000). What is the research evidence? Our research suggests that Gwakkamole is an effective way to train inhibitory control. Homer, B.D., Ober, T., Rose, M., MacNamara, A., Mayer, R., & Plass, J.L. (2019). Speed Versus Accuracy: Implications of Adolescents' Neurocognitive Developments in a Digital Game to Train Executive Functions. Mind, Brain, and Education, 13(1), 41–52. DOI: 10.1111/mbe.12189 Research has found that EF is related to performance in literacy and math along with long-term gains in school performance and academic readiness (Blair & Razza, 2007; Brock, Rimm-Kaufman, Nathanson, & Grimm, 2009; St Clair-Thompson & Gathercole, 2006; Welsh, Nix, Blair, Bierman, & Nelson, 2010) and that disparities in EF among preschool children from low-income versus high-income homes may contribute to the achievement gap (Blair & Razza, 2007; Noble, McCandliss, & Farah, 2007). This game is part of the Smart Suite, created by New York University’s CREATE lab in collaboration with the University of California, Santa Barbara, and The Graduate Center, CUNY. The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A150417 to the University of California, Santa Barbara. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.
Stroop!
This colorful puzzle game challenges your perception and reaction time. Match the color of the word to the word's actual color, not the word itself, under a strict time limit. Compete for high scores in this engaging brain-training experience.
- Color word matching
- Time-limited challenges
- High score competition
- Multilingual word support
- Reverse Stroop Effect gameplay
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Stroop is confusing and colorful Puzzle Game! Don't be misled by the Reverse Stroop Effect! And Touch the color correctly in limited time. Achieve a high score!! *name of color will be written in not only English, but also French and Spanish... How to Play Color name will be shown and Touch the same color speedy! If you touch wrong color or Time is up, the Game is Over... The deadline will come closer!! Choose answer in a moment and get a high score!!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Gwakkamole at 80% against Stroop!'s 25%. Gwakkamole also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.9) and ads (none vs shown). Stroop!'s advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 39 months). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Gwakkamole holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 11 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Gwakkamole's written reviews are positive against 25% of Stroop!'s.
Gwakkamole ships an update every 39 months, Stroop! every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Gwakkamole | Stroop! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (14 ratings) — better | 3.9 (11 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | 11 |
| Update frequency | Every 39 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 169 MB | 86 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | New York University | Yukihiro Kadono |
Customer experience
Gwakkamole
Stroop!
In-app purchases
Gwakkamole
No in-app purchases
Stroop!
No in-app purchases









