Hangman
Six lives, six categories, and an option to type your own word — with the letter frequencies that make some guesses much better than others.
Custom words are never sent anywhere — but whoever types one can obviously see it, so hand the device over before you start.
Guessing well
Start with vowels, but not all of them. E, A and O cover most words — spending three guesses on vowels before a single consonant leaves you short on a word like RHYTHM. After those, R, S, T, L and N are the most productive consonants, which is exactly the set a wheel-of-fortune final round hands you for free.
Length is information, and a long word is easier rather than harder: common letter patterns have more places to turn up. A repeated guess costs nothing in either direction, so there is never a reason not to check.
Things worth knowing
- The position is entirely a function of the word and the letters guessed, so nothing can get out of sync and guessing the same letter twice costs nothing.
- Start with vowels, but not all of them. E, A and O cover most words, and spending three guesses on vowels before any consonant leaves you short of lives on a word like RHYTHM.
- The most useful early consonants are R, S, T, L, N — the same set a wheel-of-fortune final round hands you for free, and for the same reason.
- Word length is information. A long word is easier, not harder, because common letter patterns have more places to appear.
- A wrong guess only costs a life if the letter genuinely is not there. Repeating a letter you have already tried does nothing at all, in either direction.
6 wrong guesses and the game is over.
How to use
- Pick a category, or enter a word for someone else.
- Guess letters one at a time.
- Six wrong guesses ends the game.
- Start with the commonest letters, then use the word shape.
Frequently asked questions
Which letters should I guess first?
E, T, A, O, I and N are the commonest in English, and E by a wide margin. But raw frequency is not the whole story — for short words, position matters more, and once you have any letters placed, guessing to distinguish between candidate words beats guessing the next most common letter.
Should I guess vowels first?
Usually one or two, then stop. Vowels reveal the word's shape quickly, but there are only five and most words have few, so a run of vowel guesses wastes lives. E and A first, then consonants, is a reasonable default.
What is the hardest word to guess?
Words with rare letters and repeated uncommon patterns do best — jazz, fuzzy and rhythm are classic choices, since a player working through common letters finds nothing. Analyses of the game have suggested that words like JAZZ are close to optimal for the setter.
Does word length help or hurt me?
Short words are harder, counterintuitively. A long word gives many positions for common letters to appear in, so early guesses reveal structure. A three-letter word offers almost no purchase, and there are many candidates fitting any partial pattern.
Can the game be played dishonestly?
There is a well-known variant called Evil Hangman, where the setter does not commit to a word and instead keeps whichever set of candidates is largest after each guess. It is legal within the letter of the rules, essentially unbeatable, and a rather good lesson in why you commit to an answer up front.
How old is the game?
Victorian, at least. It appears in a collection of children's games from the 1890s under a different name. The gallows imagery has led many modern versions to replace it with something less grim, which changes nothing about the play.
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