How to play Hangman: rules, number of guesses and strategy

How do you play Hangman?

The screen shows one box for each letter of the secret word, plus the word's category, which always stays visible as a hint. Pick a letter on the on-screen keyboard:

• If the letter is in the word, it appears in every box where it occurs and its key turns turquoise.
• If it is not, the key turns grey and one bow flies off the kite's tail.
• You cannot pick the same letter twice.
• Once every letter is revealed, you have guessed the word. If the word gets away, the answer is shown in red.
• There is no guessing the whole word at once; every guess is a single letter.
• In words with a space, the space is shown from the start.

The English keyboard has the 26 letters A to Z. On a computer you can also play with your physical keyboard; Enter moves on to the next word.

There are three modes: Streak, Word of the Day and Two Players. In Streak you choose one of 12 categories or Mixed, and a difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard). Every word you guess adds one to your streak; if a word gets away, the streak ends. You can change the category and difficulty during a streak too; if you have already picked a letter in the current word, the change applies from the next word. If you leave a streak halfway, it continues where you left off, and the same word does not come back until the pool you chose runs out.

How many guesses do you get in Hangman?

You have 7 tries in total. The kite's tail holds 6 bows, and every wrong letter takes one away. Once all 6 bows are gone, one more mistake snaps the string and the kite drifts far away: the word has got away. So the game goes on through 6 mistakes and ends on the 7th.

Correct letters cost nothing, and if a letter appears several times in the word, a single guess reveals all of them. The screen always shows how many tries you have left.

Second chance: in Streak, if your streak is at least 3 words, you can choose to watch a short ad on your last mistake: two bows come back and you get 2 more tries. This happens only once per streak and is entirely your choice; if you say no, the streak ends. There is no second chance in the Word of the Day.

How do you play Hangman with two players?

In Two Players mode, one player writes the secret word and the other guesses it. The word must be 3 to 20 letters long, can be up to 3 words and may only use the letters of that language (no numbers or symbols). If you like, you choose a category, which the guesser sees as a hint.

There are two ways to play:

• Play on this device: the writer hands the phone to the other player, who presses I'm ready to start guessing. If the guesser finds the word, they get 1 point; if not, the writer does. The roles switch every round, a scoreboard (Player 1 - Player 2) stays on screen, and Reset score starts over.
• Send as a link: the word is encrypted inside the link, so nobody can read it by looking at the link. When your friend opens it, they guess the word on their own device, with the keyboard of the word's language. At the end, Send a word back lets them return the challenge.

The first way is perfect for a long trip, a classroom or a family evening with one phone; the second is for challenging a friend who is far away.

Hangman strategy: which letter should you guess first?

The safest start is the letters that appear most often. The table shows, in this game's English word list, the share of words that contain each letter. It is a count of the words in the game, not a general statistic about the English language.

• Start with A or E. More than half of the words in this game contain them.
• Then try R, O, I and N. If a vowel misses, the other vowels are your next best bet.
• Use the category. It narrows down the possible words more than anything else; Animals and Instruments call for very different guesses.
• Look at the boxes. The length of the word and the position of the revealed letters rule out most of the words you have in mind.
• Guess the word once it takes shape. After the common letters, if you can see the word, pick only the missing letters.
• Use Reveal wisely. In Streak it opens, once per word, the hidden letter that appears most often in the word and does not count as a mistake; but that word's score is halved.

What is the Word of the Day?

The Word of the Day is a new word that arrives every day at midnight Turkey time. Everyone playing in that language guesses the same word, and you can play it once a day. There is no Reveal hint and no second chance in this mode. The words are numbered: 14 October 2026 is #1, and the number goes up by one each day.

When you finish, How did everyone do? shows how the day's results were spread: No mistakes, 1-2 wrong, 3+ wrong and Got away. You also see your daily streak and a countdown to the next word. You can share your result; the shared text never gives the word away, so nobody's fun is spoiled.

The Word of the Day score has no multiplier and goes to a separate daily leaderboard. Words you guess here also count toward unlocking kite designs.

How is the score calculated?

Each word scores 10 × the number of different letters in the word + 20 × the tries you have left. In Streak, that score is multiplied by the difficulty:

If you used Reveal on a word, its score is halved. Example: a word with 6 different letters, guessed on Normal with 5 tries left, scores (60 + 100) × 1.5 = 240 points.

When a streak ends, its total score goes to the leaderboard, which has a weekly and an all-time ranking. In the Word of the Day there is no multiplier (10 × different letters + 20 × tries left), and the score goes to a separate daily leaderboard.

Reveal works only in Streak, once per word: it opens the hidden letter that appears most often in the word and does not count as a mistake. You get 3 free a day, then more by watching an optional short ad. If only one different letter is left, it does not open it; the last letter is yours to find.

Your statistics keep the words you have guessed, your longest streak, your best streak score, your flawless words (no mistakes and no Reveal), your daily streak and the kite designs you have unlocked.

Why is there no hanged man? The kite rule

In classic Hangman, every mistake adds a piece to a drawing on paper. We chose a non-violent picture instead: a kite. That way the game is comfortable for children, families and teachers who want to use it in class, while the rules stay exactly the same.

The game has a short story: on a windy spring day, a grandfather and his grandchild climb a hill to fly a kite. Grandpa ties 6 colourful bows to the tail: "Each bow is one try." With every wrong letter, the wind takes a bow; when all 6 are gone, one more mistake snaps the string and the kite drifts far away.

You can decorate your kite as well. Besides the Classic design, every category has its own, 13 designs in total: a tile flower for Cities, a tulip for Turkish cuisine, an evil eye bead for Countries, a star for Sports, a wave for Nature, birds for Animals, a pomegranate for Fruit and veg, a flower for Instruments, a kilim diamond for Things at home, a sun for Jobs, a leaf for Food and drink and drops for School. Guess 10 words in a category (in Streak or the Word of the Day) to unlock its design, then pick it in My Kites and your kite wears it in the game.

How to play Hangman with pen and paper

Hangman is played by two people with pen and paper, and it is a favourite at school and on journeys. Playing it with the kite rule is easy:

1. One player thinks of a word and draws one dash for each letter. You can also say the topic (an animal, a city, a food).
2. The other player calls out a letter. If it is in the word, it is written on every dash where it belongs.
3. If not, it is noted on the side. Draw a kite at the start with 6 bows on its tail, and cross out one bow for every wrong letter. When all 6 are gone, one more mistake snaps the string.
4. If the word is found, the guesser wins; if not, the player who chose the word wins. Then swap roles.

Instead of a kite you can draw a flower with 7 petals or a sun with 7 rays, and take one away for each mistake. Some teachers and families already use friendly drawings like these instead of the classic one.

Origins: nobody knows for sure where the game comes from. Written sources show it was known in England by the end of the 19th century: Alice Bertha Gomme's book The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, published in 1894, describes a similar letter guessing game called "Birds, Beasts and Fishes". In Turkey it is known as "adam asmaca". Word games like this can help with vocabulary and spelling.

Common mistakes

• Trying to type the whole word: in this game every guess is a single letter. Even if you are sure of the word, pick its letters one by one.
• Trying to guess the space: in words with a space, the gap is shown from the start, so you only need to find the letters.
• Ignoring the category: it is always on screen and narrows down the possible words more than any other hint.
• Spending your first guesses on rare letters: in this game's words, letters like A, E, R, O and I appear far more often.
• Thinking Reveal is free of charge for your score: it does not count as a mistake, but that word's score is halved, even with the 3 free ones of the day.
• Expecting a second chance every time: it only appears in Streak, when your streak is at least 3 words, and once per streak; the Word of the Day has none.
• Thinking the word lists are translations: every language has its own word list. Change the word language and you get completely different words.