Hangman

Objective

One player thinks of a word, and the other player (or players) tries to guess it by suggesting letters. The goal is to guess the word before the drawing of the “hangman” is completed.

Setup

  1. One player (the “host”) secretly chooses a word or short phrase.
  2. They draw a row of blank spaces on paper, one for each letter in the word.
    • Example: For the word “apple,” they would draw: _ _ _ _ _

Gameplay

  • The guessing player suggests one letter at a time.
  • If the letter is in the word, the host fills it in on the blanks in the correct positions.
    • Example: If the word is “apple” and the guess is “p,” the display becomes _ p p _ _.
  • If the letter is not in the word, the host adds a part to the hangman drawing (usually starting with the gallows, then the head, body, arms, and legs).

Losing and Winning

  • The guessing player wins if they correctly guess the word before the drawing is finished.
  • The guessing player loses if the full hangman drawing is completed first.

Common Drawing Stages (6–10 steps depending on version)

  1. Base/gallows
  2. Head
  3. Body
  4. Left arm
  5. Right arm
  6. Left leg
  7. Right leg (game over)