Hangman · Rules guide
Hangman rules: how to play
One letter at a time, six wrong guesses, and a drawing that finishes without you. The full rules, the conventions people argue about, and the variants that change the game.
The short answer
- One player picks a word and marks a dash for each letter; the other guesses letters.
- A correct letter is filled into every place it appears at once.
- A wrong letter costs a life — the classic figure gives you six.
- Guessing the whole word and being wrong usually costs a life too; agree this before you start.
- Lives, drawings and whether phrases are allowed all vary — nothing about hangman is standardised.
The rules of Hangman
One player thinks of a word and draws a dash for each of its letters. The other calls out letters. Every letter that is in the word is written into all of its places at once; every letter that is not costs a life, and adds one more line to the drawing. Guess the word before the drawing is finished and you win.
- One guess is one letter. A correct letter fills in every place it appears, not just the first.
- A wrong letter costs a life. The classic figure has six parts — head, body, two arms, two legs — so you have six misses.
- Repeating a letter is not a new guess. It has already been answered; guess something else.
- You win when every letter is showing, and lose when the drawing is complete.
That is the whole game, and it has survived a century unchanged because the arithmetic is honest: you are buying information with lives, and you only have six to spend.
Guessing letters, guessing the word
The board is a pattern, and the pattern is the only thing you are ever told. Every guess turns the pattern into a slightly more specific one.
Guessing the whole word
Most house rules let you call the whole word at any time. Two conventions exist, and they are not the same game:
- Free guesses — a wrong word costs nothing. Then there is no reason not to shout every word you think of, and the game goes soft.
- A wrong word costs a life — the usual tournament convention, and the one worth playing. It makes the decision real: guess now, or buy one more letter first?
What is and is not allowed in the word
- Single words only in the strict game. Phrases, names and titles are a common house variant — say which before you start.
- Spaces and hyphens are usually shown from the beginning if phrases are allowed, because the word count is not the secret.
- Accents and case do not count. A guess of E finds É in versions that use them.
Variants, lives and the drawing
Nothing about hangman is standardised, and the number of lives is the part that varies most. The figure is a counter that happens to look like a picture, so people add parts to it.
| Version | Lives | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Classic six | 6 | Head, body, two arms, two legs. The count this site uses. |
| Ten-part | 10 | Adds hands and feet — much more forgiving, and the usual school version. |
| Thirteen-part | 13 | Adds facial features and the scaffold pieces one at a time. |
| Snowman / rocket / balloon | 5–8 | Same game, friendlier drawing. Standard in classrooms now. |
| Category hangman | 6 | The chooser names a category first. Far easier, and better with children. |
| Evil hangman | 6 | The computer does not fix a word at all — see the strategy guide. |
Two-player and solo
Hangman is usually a two-player game in which one side knows the answer, which makes it a game of choosing as much as guessing. Against a computer, or with a word drawn from a list, it becomes a solo puzzle — and a surprisingly good one, because the information problem is the same and nobody is trying to be cruel.
Common questions
How many guesses do you get in Hangman?
Six in the classic game — head, body, two arms and two legs. Ten- and thirteen-part versions exist and are common in schools, so agree the number before you start rather than after the sixth miss.
Does guessing the whole word cost a life?
In the usual convention, yes. If a wrong word costs nothing there is no reason not to guess constantly, which removes the only interesting decision in the game.
Do you fill in every place a letter appears?
Yes. One guess of E reveals all the Es at once. This is why a word with the same letter several times — such as BANANA — is far easier than its length suggests.
Can the word be a name or a phrase?
Only if you agree beforehand. The strict game uses single dictionary words; phrase hangman is a common house variant, and the spaces are normally shown from the start.
What happens if the chooser picks a word that is not real?
The guesser wins. Fix a dictionary before a serious game — this is the most common cause of arguments in hangman.
What is the hardest word for Hangman?
Short words built from rare letters with few different letters in them: JAZZ, FUZZY, BUZZ, QUIZ. Length is not difficulty — ASTONISHED is ten letters of the most common ones in English and falls apart quickly.
Play Hangman free, right now
No sign-up, no download — it runs in your browser against the computer, a friend on the same device, or a friend online.