Hangman — Word Guessing Game
Guess the hidden word letter by letter before the hangman is complete. 6 wrong guesses allowed.
How to play
- A secret word is hidden — dashes show how many letters it has.
- Click a letter (or press a key) to guess it.
- Correct guesses reveal the letter; wrong guesses add a body part to the hangman.
- 6 wrong guesses and the hangman is complete — game over!
- Guess the full word before all 6 strikes to win.
Guess the hidden word one letter at a time. You have 6 wrong guesses before the hangman is complete. Click letters or type on your keyboard.
How it works
Hangman is a word-guessing game in which you deduce a hidden word by suggesting individual letters, one at a time. Correct guesses reveal every occurrence of that letter in the word. Wrong guesses add parts to the hangman drawing, and six wrong guesses end the game.
The game has been a classroom staple for decades because it builds spelling awareness and reinforces vocabulary in a low-stakes, game-like setting. The tension of the drawing filling in creates just enough urgency to keep players engaged.
Letter frequency is your best guide. In English, the most common letters are E, T, A, O, I, N, S, H, R in roughly that order. Starting with E and T gives you the highest chance of an early hit. As letters reveal the word's shape, switch from frequency guessing to pattern matching — a pattern like _ _ A _ _ might be GRAPH or TRAIN, narrowing your remaining guesses significantly.
Hangman is equally useful for vocabulary building, teaching letter frequency, and as a quick filler game on any device without needing pencil and paper.
Worked example
Guess a 6-letter word efficiently
- Start with E: suppose it appears in position 3. The pattern is _ _ E _ _ _.
- Guess T: appears in position 6. Pattern is _ _ E _ _ T.
- Guess R: no match — first wrong guess.
- Guess A: appears in positions 1 and 5. Pattern is A _ E _ A T.
- Deduce the remaining letters from the pattern and confirm with targeted guesses.
Word identified in 5-6 guesses with only 1 wrong guess, well within the 6-mistake limit.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Guessing rare letters like Q, X, or Z early — these have very low frequency and waste precious wrong-guess allowance.
- Not using word length as a filter: a 3-letter word almost certainly follows common short-word patterns.
- Ignoring already-revealed letters when choosing the next guess — always incorporate every visible clue.
Key terms
- Letter frequency
- How often each letter appears across typical English text; E is most frequent, Z least.
- Pattern matching
- Using the revealed letter positions and word length to narrow down which words are still possible.
- Wrong guess
- A letter suggestion that does not appear anywhere in the hidden word; six wrong guesses lose the game.
Frequently asked questions
- How many wrong guesses do I get?
- 6 — after that the hangman is complete and the game ends.
- Can I use the keyboard?
- Yes — just press any letter key to guess it.