🎯 How to Play Hangman

Rules, the category-plus-clue hint system, letter-picking strategy, and the small tricks that save your last two guesses.

Play Today's Hangman Back to Guides

What is Our Daily Hangman?

Every day there's a new mystery word. You see the category and the number of letters. Guess one letter at a time. Each wrong guess draws one part of a stick figure. Crack the word before 6 misses finish the drawing. Classic hangman, free daily - open the page and play.

How to Play

A daily word: Each day at midnight a new mystery word appears. You see blank spaces for each letter and a category hint (e.g. Animals, Science, Food).
Guess letters: Tap or click a letter on the on-screen keyboard, or type on your physical keyboard. Each letter can only be guessed once.
Correct letter: If the letter is in the word, it appears in every position where it belongs. The keyboard key turns green.
Wrong letter: If the letter is not in the word, one body part of the stick figure is drawn. The keyboard key is greyed out.
Win: Guess every letter in the word before the drawing is complete and you win. The fewer wrong guesses, the better your result.
Out of guesses: After 6 wrong guesses a "One more try / Give up" prompt appears, with a 20-second cooldown on the retry button. Pick One more try and one wrong guess is forgiven (a limb un-draws) - the wrong letter stays on the keyboard so you can't re-guess it. Retries are unlimited; pick Give up to end the game and reveal the word.

The 6 Wrong Guesses

Each wrong letter draws one part of the stick figure, in this order:

1. Head
A circle appears as the head.
2. Torso
A vertical line for the body.
3. Left Arm
A diagonal line from the torso.
4. Right Arm
A second diagonal line from the torso.
5. Left Leg
A diagonal line downwards.
6. Right Leg
The final body part - the drawing is complete. A "One more try / Give up" prompt appears: take the retry to un-draw a limb (the wrong letter stays disabled), or give up to reveal the word.

Category & Clue Hints

Category hint: Every word has a category (e.g. Animals, Food, Science) shown from the start. Use it to narrow your guesses to words that fit the theme.
Clue unlock: After 4 wrong guesses a "Show clue" button appears. Tap it to reveal a more specific hint about the word.
Strategic choice: You do not have to use the clue. If you want a bigger challenge, try to solve the word using only the category. The clue is there as a safety net when you are running low on guesses.

Strategies & Tips

Start with vowels: Try A, E, I, O, U first - almost every English word contains at least one.
Common consonants next: After vowels, guess T, N, S, R, L. These are the most frequent consonants in English.
Use the category: If the category is "Animals", you can rule out abstract words and focus on creature names. Let the category guide your guesses.
Look for patterns: If you see _ _ A V E, think of words like BRAVE, GRAVE, or SHAVE. Partial words narrow down the possibilities fast.
Common endings: In longer words, look for typical endings like -ING, -TION, -ER, -LY. Confirming an ending reveals multiple letters at once.
Save rare letters: Leave Z, Q, X, J for last. Only guess them if the pattern and category strongly suggest they fit.

Advanced Tips

Letter pairs: In English, Q is almost always followed by U. Seeing a confirmed U in a suspicious spot can hint at a Q nearby.
Double letters: Words like LETTER, COFFEE, and BALLOON have double letters. One correct guess fills both spots at once, so spotting a likely double (e.g., two blanks side by side in a word with the category Food) can be a powerful move.
Wait for the clue: If you have 3 wrong guesses and no clear idea, slow down. One more miss unlocks the clue button - it may save your remaining 2 guesses.
Elimination: Once you have a few letters, mentally list all words that fit the pattern and the category. Cross off ones that use letters you already tried.

Game Features

Daily puzzle: A new word every day at midnight. Everyone gets the same word so you can compare results with friends.
Archive: Missed a day? Open the archive to play any previous puzzle. Your progress on each puzzle is saved automatically.
Share your result: After finishing, share a spoiler-free result showing how many guesses you used - green dots for remaining lives, red dots for wrong guesses.
Works everywhere: Phone, tablet, or desktop. Browser only. Your progress saves automatically.

Why Play Hangman?

Benefits of the daily hangman habit:

Better Vocabulary
Discover new words every day and reinforce correct spelling through active recall.
Logical Thinking
Practice deduction and strategic thinking as you narrow down possibilities with each guess.
Language Sense
Build an intuition for letter frequency, common patterns, and word structure.
Daily Ritual
Under two minutes, one mystery word. Share your result and see how friends did.

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