The Tab Cheat is a cheat that is absolutely prohibited in any of the Impossible Quizzes, except for the Demo, where it wasn't implemented at all. The Tab button can usually be used in Flash files to highlight clickable objects; since these Quizzes (made in Flash) have a lot of tricks and searching questions, Splapp-Me-Do programmed a scenario where hitting the Tab button at any point during the questions will give you an immediate Game Over.
In the Demo, the only instance where the player is not allowed to abuse the Tab button is Question 17, but only because the maze you have to get through is a clickable object itself, and only hovering the mouse over it will give you a Game Over: "You Touched Blue!"
The only other instance where Tabbing won't give the player a Game Over is during the mini-games of Questions 70, 80 and 90 of The Impossible Quiz Book, Chapter 2, as well as every single firmware update section of the game (following the mini-games in Questions 60, 70 and 80); during the questions themselves, the cheat protection will be in full effect like normal.
The Tab Messages[]
Here's a list of messages that the games have when tabbing, followed by a gallery with illustrations of those messages.
- The Impossible Quiz: No tab message. It just gives an instant Game Over.
- The Impossible Quiz 2: CHEATER! Tabbing is for TWATS!
- The Impossible Quiz Book Chapters 1 and 3: NO TABBING, YOU CHEATING BASTARD!
- The Impossible Quiz Book Chapter 2: ZOMG!! HAXXOR DETECTED. CALLING INTERNET POLICE...
- The Impossible Quizmas: "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE TRYING TO CHEAT"
Secondary message: "...But it is Christmas... So here's a Game Over gift!"
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Tab Cheat is referenced in a few The Impossible Quiz questions:
- In Question 118 of The Impossible Quiz 2, the question tells the player to press tab 50 times. Players that didn't know about the Tab Cheat would probably get a game over the first time they are on the question.
- In Question 58 of The Impossible Quiz Book, the second option of the question says "Press Tab". This doesn't give players a game over.
- The "ZOMG" part of the Tab cheat in Chapter 2 of the Impossible Quiz Book is a reference to a typo where people would hold the "Shift" key to capitalize the word "OMG" but instead press the "Z" key.
- While the "Game Over gift" in The Impossible Quizmas usually yields nothing, there is a rare chance to unlock one of the special Quizmas Presents; the Bronze Tablet. In the Newgrounds version of the game, this will also unlock the "Keeping Tabs" medal.
- If this is the first time you open an empty present, or if the Bronze Tablet is your first rare present, you will additionally unlock the "Thanks For Nothing" or "Just What I Wanted" medals, respectively.