How to play Hangman

Choose a word: players take turns. The setter thinks of a secret word of 3 to 12 letters, one word with letters from A to Z, and types it in. With 2 Players, a cover screen asks the guesser to look away first. Can't think of one? Tap Pick one for me. The setter can also give a clue, such as "An animal" or "Food and drink".
The blanks: the guesser sees a row of blank tiles, one for each letter, and the clue if there is one.
Guess a letter: tap any letter. If it's in the word, it appears in every place it belongs, so one good guess can fill in two or three tiles.
A wrong letter pops a balloon. The guesser hangs from a bunch of six balloons and sinks a little lower with each pop. After six wrong letters the last balloon goes, the guesser lands on the grass and the word is lost.
Scoring: solve the word and you score a point for every balloon still flying, so a word with no wrong guesses is worth 6. Losing all six balloons scores nothing.
Rounds: in each round both players guess one word, and swap jobs in between. After 3 rounds (or 1 or 5 if you choose), the player with more points wins. Equal points is a draw.

Controls

Guess a letter: tap it on the keyboard on screen, or type it on a real keyboard. Letters in the word turn green, and letters that aren't turn red and are crossed out, so you can't try the same one twice.
Choose a word: type it in the box and press Done (or Enter). Pick one for me fills in a word from the game's list and sets its clue.
Pass the device: with 2 Players, the setter types while the guesser looks away, then hands the device over and the guesser presses Start guessing.

The word, the clue, the letters you've tried and your balloons are always on screen. On a phone held upright the balloons float above the word; on a wider screen they sit beside it.

Computer levels

The computer plays both jobs. When it chooses, it takes a word from its own family-friendly list of about 1,650 words, each with a clue. When it guesses, it never sees your word: it only knows what you'd see, which is the blanks, the letters found so far and the letters already tried. It thinks of every word it knows that fits and tries a letter that most of them share. When no word it knows fits, it goes by which letters usually sit next to the ones you've given away.

Level	Words it gives you	How it guesses yours
Easy	Long, everyday words full of common letters	Knows the fewest words and often tries a letter at random
Medium	Everyday words, a little shorter	Usually tries a likely letter, but sometimes a long shot
Hard	Shorter words with fewer common letters	Always tries the letter that fits the most words it knows
Expert	Short words with rare letters, such as QUIZ or HAWK	Knows every word on its list, and if yours isn't on it, it looks for words that nearly fit

The computer also knows everyday words that it never chooses itself, in both American and British spellings, so COLOR and COLOUR are both fair game.

Tips for guessing

Start with vowels. Nearly every word has an A, E, I, O or U, and E turns up in more English words than any other letter. Y can stand in for a vowel too, as in SKY or GYM.
Then try the common consonants. R, S, T, L and N are in a great many words. Save J, Q, X and Z for when the blanks point to them.
Read the shape. Once a few letters show, stop guessing letters on their own and think of whole words that fit. Endings like -ER, -LY and -ING, and pairs like CH, SH and TH, often give the word away.
Use the clue. If the clue is "An animal" and the word shows _H___, think of animals that fit, such as SHARK, SHEEP, WHALE or CHICK, and guess a letter that's in more than one of them.
Count your balloons. With one or two balloons left, choose the letter that fits the most words you can think of, not your favourite guess.

Choosing a hard word

Short words are harder than long ones. A long word has lots of letters to find, so nearly every guess hits something. Three or four letters give the guesser very little to work with.
Use rarer letters. Words with J, K, V, W, X, Y or Z, like JAZZ, OXEN or WRIST, take longer to find, because good guessers try those letters last.
Pick a word that looks like many others. If the guesser gets as far as _ATCH, it could still be BATCH, CATCH, HATCH, LATCH, MATCH, PATCH or WATCH, and every wrong try pops a balloon.
Play fair. Choose a real word and spell it correctly. A clue makes the game friendlier for younger players.

Hangman at home and at school

Hangman has long been a favourite in classrooms and on car journeys, because it's quick, needs nothing but a few words, and quietly practises spelling, vocabulary and letter patterns. This version swaps the gallows for balloons, which makes it kinder for young children, and the computer's words are all family-friendly. A parent and child can take turns choosing words on one tablet, and a teacher can show it on a whiteboard and let the class guess together. There's more for grown-ups on our page for parents and teachers.

About Hangman

Nobody knows exactly who invented Hangman, but guessing a word from a few letters and some blanks is an old idea. In 1894, Alice Gomme's collection of traditional British children's games described a slate game called Birds, Beasts, and Fishes: one player wrote the first and last letters of an animal's name with crosses for the letters in between, said whether it was a bird, a beast or a fish, and the others tried to guess the name. The clue in this game works in the same way. Today Hangman is played on paper, on whiteboards and on screens all over the world, usually with a drawing that grows with every wrong guess.

Questions

How many wrong guesses do you get in Hangman?

Here you get six: every wrong letter pops one of your six balloons, and the word is lost when the last one goes. On paper it depends on the drawing. A head, a body, two arms and two legs make six, and some people add more parts to make the game easier.

Why are there balloons instead of a hanging man?

The game works just the same, and balloons are friendlier for younger players. Every wrong letter still costs you, and the balloons you have left become your points.

What are good words for Hangman?

Short words with unusual letters are the hardest to guess, such as JAZZ, QUIZ or LYNX. Long words like ELEPHANT are much easier, because almost every guess finds a letter. For young children, pick familiar words and give a clue.

What letters should I guess first?

Most people start with E and A, then the other vowels and common consonants such as R, S, T, L and N. Once a few letters are showing, guess with whole words in mind instead.

Can two people play Hangman on one phone?

Yes. Choose 2 Players. The setter types the word behind a cover screen while the guesser looks away, then passes the device over. You take turns choosing words, so each of you guesses the same number.

Does the computer cheat?

No. When it chooses a word for you, it can't change it afterwards. When it guesses yours, it only sees the blanks and the letters already tried, just as you do, and works out the rest from the words it knows.

What happens if we both score the same?

The game is a draw. Press Play again for a decider.

Is this Hangman game free?

Yes. It's free in your browser, with no download, no sign-up and no ads during a game.

Updated 9 November 2026