How to play hangman
- A word is chosen at random from the categories you ticked. Each dash is one letter.
- Guess a letter: tap it on the keyboard on the screen, or type it.
- If the letter is in the word, it appears in every place it is. If it is not, one more line of the drawing appears.
- Guess the whole word before the drawing is finished, and you win.
With 6 mistakes allowed – the classic game – the gallows stand from the start and every mistake adds a part of the figure. With 10 the gallows are built first, which makes it easier for younger players.
Play against a friend
Under Two players: type a secret word, one player types a word or a phrase while the other looks away, presses Play with this word and hands over the phone. Phrases work too: spaces and hyphens are shown from the start.
Tips to win
- Start with vowels: E, A, O and I are in most words.
- Then try the most common consonants: T, N, S, R and L.
- Look at the length and the category – a seven-letter animal ending in “-oo” leaves few choices.
- Two letters in a row you are sure of? Think of words that contain them before you guess another letter.
Hangman in the classroom
Hangman is a classic for spelling and vocabulary: the class guesses together, letter by letter, and talks about which letter is likely next. Put the projector on, untick the categories you do not need and keep Show the category on as a hint. For your own word list – this week’s spelling words – use the secret word box.
Nothing to install
It all runs in your browser, on this device: no app, no account, nothing sent anywhere. Your settings and the game in progress are still here after a reload.