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Play Hangman Online
The classic game, played with phrases. Five difficulty levels, three hints a round, and a two player mode where one of you sets a secret phrase for the other. Six wrong guesses and the drawing is complete.
Choose how to play
1. Difficulty
Measured from each phrase itself: how many of the letters you guess first appear, how many rare ones lurk, and how much the short words give away.
2. Pick a list, or let us choose
Or: set a phrase for a friend
Type a phrase without your opponent watching, press start, then hand the device over. The phrase is hidden while you type.
Difficulty levels, measured rather than guessed
Every phrase on this site is scored from its own letters before it reaches you. The score asks three things: what fraction of the phrase the letters people guess first would reveal, how many genuinely rare letters lurk in it, and whether Y is doing a vowel's job the way it does in gym, myth and why. A fourth check looks at word length, because a phrase of three-letter words hands you a letter per hit and unlocks nothing.
That is why very easy and very hard behave the way their names promise. Very easy means long ordinary words packed with common letters, right for children and first rounds. Very hard means the opening five guesses will miss, which is exactly what happens to anyone who tries E, A, R, S and T against why buy my gym.
Hints, and why they cost nothing
Three hints a round, each revealing one letter that is genuinely in the phrase. They cost no lives on purpose. A hint that costs a life is useless at the moment you actually need one, which is when you have a single life left and no idea what the third word is.
Each hint also picks deliberately rather than randomly: it reveals the letter you are least likely to reach on your own, so the Z in a phrase arrives before the second E. Three is enough to rescue a round you would otherwise abandon, and too few to solve one you have not worked at.
How this version plays
The rules are the paper rules. Spaces and punctuation are revealed from the start, a correct letter fills every position it appears in at once, and six wrong guesses end the round. Every phrase in solo mode comes from the site's own graded lists, so you can choose your difficulty by choosing your list: start with the best phrases, warm up on the easy list, or test yourself against the hard list, where Y does the work of a vowel and the letters you rely on stop arriving.
Two player mode is the whiteboard game without the whiteboard: type a phrase with the text hidden, hand the device over, and watch your opponent spend their six lives. If you need ammunition, the funny list and the adults list are full of it.
Common questions
How do I play hangman online for free here?
Choose a difficulty, pick a list or press surprise me, and a phrase is set for you. Guess letters with the on-screen keyboard or your own, and solve it within six wrong guesses. There is no account, no download and nothing to install.
Can I get a hint in hangman?
Yes, three per round. A hint reveals one letter that is genuinely in the phrase, and it deliberately picks the letter you are least likely to reach on your own. Hints cost you nothing, because their purpose is to rescue a stuck round rather than to end it.
What are the difficulty levels?
Very easy, easy, medium, hard and very hard. Each phrase is scored from its own letters: how many of the letters people guess first appear, how many rare ones lurk, and whether Y is doing a vowel's job. Very easy suits children; very hard is built to defeat experienced players.
Can two people play hangman on one phone?
Yes, with the two player mode on this page. One player types a secret phrase, hidden as it is typed, then hands the device over. The other guesses letters exactly as in the paper game. It works on any phone, tablet or computer.
Do spaces count as guesses in this game?
No. Spaces and punctuation are shown from the start, exactly as in the paper rules: only the letters A to Z are guessed, and a correct letter fills every place it appears at once.
How many wrong guesses does the game allow?
Six, matching the traditional drawing: head, body, two arms and two legs. The counter above the board shows how many lives remain, and hints never reduce it.