Hangman, a world classic game

Without a doubt, Hangman is one of the world’s most popular pen and paper based games, and is played by both children and adults from all over the world. The fun comes from its simplicity, and I certainly remember as a young child learning how to play Hangman with my school friends during our break, having to guess the hidden word, which would usually be a local sports team or our favourite cartoon. The game has survived for decades thanks to its simple rules and infinite level of replayability, and has now made its way onto web based games, such as the one of this very website.

How to Play Hangman

The game is simple, only requiring two players, although it can be played with many participants. The aim of the game is to guess the hidden word by choosing one letter at a time. Each correct guessed letter is written down on a piece of paper, replacing one of the blank spaces that denotes each letter of the word. For each incorrect guess, the opposing player draws a piece of a gallows down. Should the gallows picture be completed before the word is guessed, then the guessing player is the loser, alternatively, should they guess the word correctly before the gallows is completed, then the guessing player wins. It usually requires around 7 or 8 incorrect guesses for the gallows to be completed, however the players can decide before the game to increase or decrease the guess attempt allowance.

How to Play Hangman: The Digital Edition

The rules for the digital edition of Hangman follows the same rules as the pen and paper based version, but with the added convenience of flowing faster thanks to a bank of hundreds of randomly selected words. The online Hangman game only requires one player, and the computer does the word choosing and gallows drawings.

To begin playing, choose from one of 5 categories, including US capitals, US cities over 500k, US cities, countries, and plants. When your categorie is chosen, the computer will randomly choose a word for you, and you can begin guessing letters to add to the word. Everytime you choose a correct letter, the letter will be deducted from the list of letters and will be added below the gallows. Should you choose a wrong letter, then a part of the gallows will be added. Should you run out of guesses, then a cartoon character appears in the gallows and you will have to start again by clicking the reload button. Should you guess the word correctly, then you will gain a point and may start a new game.
You can start a new game at any point during your current game by clicking on the ‘new game’ button at the top. The game keeps a tally of your wins and losses, however you can also click on ‘clear score’ at the bottom to reset the score. Should you need any further instruction, there is a ‘how to play Hangman’ set of rules listed below the game on the web page.