How to Play Hangman: Rules, Best Letters to Guess and Variations

Hangman is a word-guessing game for two people. It needs a pencil and paper, takes a couple of minutes a round, and rewards players who know how English words are built. This guide explains the rules, which letters to guess first and why, how to choose words that are fair but hard, and a few variations that make the game fresh.

What you need

• Paper and a pencil (or a whiteboard).
• Two players. One is the chooser (also called the host) and the other is the guesser. You swap roles each round.

Rules

1. The chooser thinks of a word and draws one dash for each letter. For a five-letter word, draw five dashes.
2. The guesser calls out one letter at a time.
3. If the letter is in the word, the chooser writes it in every position where it appears.
4. If the letter is not in the word, the chooser writes it in a list of wrong guesses and draws one part of the hangman: head, body, left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg.
5. The guesser wins by completing the word, or by correctly guessing the whole word at any time. The guesser loses when the drawing is complete. With the six-part figure above, that means six wrong guesses.

Some people draw a gallows first, which adds more steps and gives the guesser more tries. Agree on the number of wrong guesses before you start.

Guessing the whole word

You may try to say the full word on your turn. If you are right, you win the round. If you are wrong, it counts as a wrong guess and the chooser adds a body part.

Repeated guesses

If you call a letter you have already tried, it is usually ignored, with no penalty. Some groups count it as a wrong guess. Pick one.

The best letters to guess first

English words are not random. Some letters appear far more often than others, so you should start with the common ones.

• Start with vowels. E is the most common letter in English words, followed by A. Almost every word has at least one vowel, so asking for E, A, O, I early tells you a lot about the shape of the word.
• Then common consonants. Good next choices are T, N, S, R and H, L, D.
• Save rare letters for last. J, Q, X and Z are poor early guesses unless the pattern points to them.

A typical opening for a medium-length word: E, A, O, then T, N, S, R. After that, stop following a fixed order and start reading the pattern.

Reading the pattern

Once some letters appear, think about what word fits.

• Word length. Short words (3 to 4 letters) are usually common words. Very long words often end in -ING, -TION, -ED, -ER or -LY. If the word is long, try guessing I, N, G early.
• Double letters. If a pattern like _ E _ _ _ has two letters that must be the same, try common double letters such as L, E, S, O, T.
• Letters that go together. Q is almost always followed by U. T is often followed by H. If you see a T in a spot next to a gap, try H.
• Word endings. If the word ends in E, the letter before it is often a consonant. If it ends in S, the word might be plural.
• What you already ruled out. Wrong guesses are information. If there is no E, the word is probably short, or unusual.

Picking good words as the chooser

A good word is one that is hard but fair.

• Avoid very short common words. "Cat" is too easy.
• Avoid words with many common letters. "Stare" has S, T, A, R, E and gets guessed fast.
• Try words with rare letters or unusual patterns: "jazz", "rhythm", "zephyr", "quartz", "oxygen". Be sure the guesser will know the word. If they have never heard of it, the game is just frustrating.
• Use a theme. Tell the guesser a category such as animals, food or places. This makes the guessing fairer and lets you use longer words.
• Do not change your word. The classic dishonest trick is to switch words after the guesser calls a letter. Write the word on a card first to stay honest.

Variations

• Themed rounds. Pick a category before each round: movies, countries, foods, animals.
• Phrases. Use a short phrase or song title instead of one word. Mark the spaces between the words.
• Letter limit. The guesser must finish with fewer than a fixed number of wrong guesses (for example four), which makes the game harder.
• Timed rounds. Each guess must come within ten seconds.
• Team Hangman. Divide into two teams. One team picks the word, the other guesses.
• Hints. The chooser gives one hint (a clue) after the third wrong guess, which keeps younger players in the game.
• Spelling practice. Teachers often use hangman with a vocabulary list.

Play online

If you do not have paper, a hangman game on screen works just as well. You can find word and board games in the Puzzle category, and Hangman 2-4 Players is listed in our catalog. Check its page to see the modes it offers. For more pen-and-paper classics for two, read how to play Battleship, how to play dots and boxes and how to win at tic tac toe.