Play hangman online, solo or with a friend
This hangman game is the classic pen-and-paper word game made for a browser tab: a hidden word, six lives, and a drawing that grows one line at a time with every wrong letter. Choose a category and a difficulty, tap or type letters, and reveal the word before the figure is complete. Words come from six built-in lists — animals, countries, food, science, sports and technology — so every round gives you a real word with a fair chance of being guessed.
It works equally well on a phone, a tablet or a desktop. On a phone the on-screen keyboard uses large, well-spaced keys; on a computer you can simply type. A two-player mode lets one person enter a secret word or phrase (hidden as you type) and an optional clue, then hands the screen to the other player.
Nothing is sent anywhere: the word lists are built into the page and your win statistics are stored only in your browser.
How to use the Hangman Game
- Pick a Category (or “Any category”) and a Difficulty. Easy words have 3–5 letters, medium 6–8 and hard 9 or more. A new word loads as soon as you change either.
- Guess letters by tapping the on-screen keys or typing on your keyboard. Correct letters fill their blanks; wrong letters are listed, cross out on the keyboard and add a part to the drawing.
- Stuck? Press Hint (costs a life) to reveal one letter from the word. It is only available while you have at least two lives.
- You win when every letter is filled in; you lose after six wrong guesses, and the word is then shown. Press New word or hit Enter for another round.
- For two players, switch to Two players, let player 1 type a secret word or phrase and an optional clue, then press Start round. Spaces and hyphens are revealed automatically.
Hangman Game features
Six categories, three difficulties
More than 400 built-in words grouped by topic and length, so a child can play easy animals while adults tackle hard science terms.
Keyboard and touch
Every on-screen key is at least 44 px, and physical keys work the moment the page is open — no need to click into a box first.
Classic drawing
An SVG gallows figure appears piece by piece — head, body, arms, legs — with a final face when the game is lost.
Two-player mode
A password-style field hides the secret word while it is typed; phrases with spaces and hyphens are allowed, and a clue can be shown to the guesser.
Hints with a cost
A hint reveals a random unguessed letter but takes a life, which keeps the game honest.
Win statistics
Games played, games won, win rate, current streak and best streak are saved on your device and can be reset at any time.
How the rules work in this version
The traditional game has countless house rules, so here is exactly what this one does. Every round starts with six lives, one for each drawn part of the figure. A wrong letter costs one life; guessing a letter you have already tried costs nothing and is simply ignored. A hint also costs one life. You cannot use a hint on your last life, which stops the hint button from ending the game for you.
- Words are chosen from the selected category and length band. If a combination has no words it falls back to the whole category.
- Letters are matched regardless of case, and only A–Z counts; spaces and hyphens in two-player phrases are shown from the start.
- A round counts towards your statistics only when it ends — abandoning a word by starting a new one does not count as a loss.
- Streaks count consecutive wins across both solo and two-player rounds.
Strategy: which letters to guess first
In English text the most frequent letters are, in order, roughly E, T, A, O, I, N, S, H and R. Starting with vowels narrows the word quickly: almost every English word of five letters or more contains at least one of A, E, I or O. Once a few letters are in place, think about common endings (-ING, -TION, -ER) and pairs (TH, CH, QU). The category helps too — a nine-letter country starting with “A” has far fewer candidates than a nine-letter word in general.
| Word length | Suggested first guesses | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 3–5 letters | A, E, O, then S, T | Short words are vowel-heavy and often end in S or T. |
| 6–8 letters | E, A, I, then N, R, T | Mid-length words usually contain two vowels and N or R. |
| 9+ letters | E, I, A, then T, N, S | Long words often carry suffixes such as -TION or -NESS. |
Playing with children and classes
Hangman is a quiet favourite for spelling practice. Choose the Animals or Food category with Easy difficulty for early readers, then move up to Medium. In two-player mode a teacher can type a spelling-list word and a clue, which turns the game into a quick revision exercise. The statistics panel makes a simple reward system — see who can build the longest streak. For a different word puzzle, try the memory card game or practise typing with the typing speed test.
Hangman Game FAQ
Is this hangman game free and does it need an account?
Yes, it is free, there is no sign-up and no app to install. The page works offline once loaded because the word lists are part of it.
How many wrong guesses are allowed?
Six. Each wrong letter adds one part of the figure — head, body, two arms and two legs. On the sixth wrong guess the round ends and the word is revealed.
Can I play hangman with my own words?
Yes. Switch to Two players, type a secret word or phrase (it is hidden as you type), add a clue if you like and press Start round. Letters, spaces and hyphens are accepted, up to 40 characters.
Does the hint give away the word?
No. A hint reveals one random letter that has not been guessed yet and costs one life, so it is a trade-off rather than a free answer.
Why does the same word sometimes repeat?
Words are picked at random from the current category and difficulty. Narrow filters such as “Sports · Hard” have fewer words, so repeats are more likely; choose “Any category” for the widest pool.
Where are my statistics saved?
In your browser’s local storage on this device only. Clearing site data or pressing Reset stats removes them; nothing is uploaded.