Hangman

Quick Pitch

Hangman is a classic word-guessing game where one player thinks of a word and another player guesses letters one at a time.

Hook

One player draws a row of blank dashes — one dash per letter — and an empty gallows. You start guessing letters: if the letter is in the word, it fills in; if it's not, a body part gets added to the gallows. The tension builds with every wrong guess: six mistakes and the game is over, but the moment the word suddenly clicks into place feels like solving a puzzle in real time.

Equipment Needed

• Sheet of paper
• Pencil or pen
• Optional: eraser

Setup

1. Word Selection: One player (the "host") thinks of a word and writes down a series of blank lines, one for each letter
2. Drawing Area: The host draws:
   • A simple gallows/hangman frame
   • Blank lines representing each letter of the word

Example setup for a 5-letter word:

  +---+
  |   |
  O   |
      |
      |
      |
=========
 _ _ _ _ _

3. Record Wrong Guesses: Set aside space to write down incorrect letter guesses

Rules

Objective

• Guesser: Identify the word by guessing letters before the hangman is complete
• Host: Keep the word secret and complete the drawing before guesser finds the word

Gameplay

1. The guesser calls out letters one at a time
2. The host checks if the letter appears in the word:
   • If YES: Host writes the letter in all correct positions
   • If NO: Host adds one part to the hangman drawing and writes the letter in the "wrong guesses" list
3. Guesser may attempt to solve the entire word at any time instead of guessing a letter
4. If guesser names the word correctly, they win immediately
5. Game continues until either:
   • Guesser identifies the word (guesser wins)
   • Hangman drawing is completed (host wins)

The Hangman Drawing

Standard progression of body parts added:

Stage 1 (wrong guess 1):
  +---+
  |   |

Stage 2 (wrong guess 2):
  +---+
  |   |
  O

Stage 3 (wrong guess 3):
  +---+
  |   |
  O   |
  |

Stage 4 (wrong guess 4):
  +---+
  |   |
  O   |
 \|

Stage 5 (wrong guess 5):
  +---+
  |   |
  O   |
 \|/

Stage 6 (wrong guess 6):
  +---+
  |   |
  O   |
 \|/
 /

Stage 7 (wrong guess 7 - complete, host wins):
  +---+
  |   |
  O   |
 \|/
 / \

Most games allow 6-7 wrong guesses before the game ends.