Hangman

About this tool

A custom hangman game you build from your own word list. Paste words, pick a difficulty, play. The game pulls a random word each round, hides it behind blanks, and lets you guess letters with the on-screen alphabet or your physical keyboard. Each correct letter fills in its spots; each wrong letter costs a guess. The visual is a kite slowly losing altitude — picked specifically because the traditional hangman/gallows imagery is dated for modern classroom use.

Built for teachers turning this week's spelling list into a five-minute warm-up, after-school programs running word games as a quiet activity, and families looking for a screen game that doesn't pull data from the device. Everything runs in the browser; nothing is sent anywhere; the only thing saved is your win streak, kept in local storage so it survives a page reload.

How to play

1. Paste a word list into the textarea — one word per line, or separated by commas. The Load sample button populates a starter list if you just want to play.
2. Pick a word length filter. All uses every word in your list; Short uses 3–5 letter words; Medium uses 6–8 letter words; Long uses words 9 letters or longer.
3. Pick how many guesses you want per round. 6 is classic; 8 is easier and better for younger players.
4. Click Start game. The game picks a random word from your filtered list and shows it as blanks.
5. Guess letters with the on-screen alphabet or by typing on your keyboard. Correct letters fill in their blanks; wrong letters drop the kite one stage.
6. Find every letter before the kite hits the ground to win the round. Click Next word to play again with a fresh random word from the same list.

Why the kite instead of a gallows

The classic hangman drawing — a stick figure on a scaffold — is a holdover from a time when classrooms used the game without thinking much about what the picture was actually showing. For a lot of teachers, parents, and after-school staff, it's no longer an automatic choice. We swapped the gallows for a kite that loses altitude with each wrong guess. Same six- or eight-strike game, same suspense as the picture builds up, but the imagery is something you can project onto the front of the room without a second thought.

The game keeps the name Hangman on the page because that's what people type into a search box when they want this kind of word-guessing game. The friendlier visual is the only thing that's actually different — the rules, the pacing, and the strategy are identical to the version everyone already knows.

Tips for stronger vocabulary lists

• Match the word length to the player. Younger players get more from 4–6 letter words; older players want 7–10. The difficulty filter caps length without rebuilding the list.
• Group by topic. A list of all spring-flower names, all state capitals, all Spanish food vocabulary, all biology terms gives players context clues that help with recall. A mixed list is just a vocabulary test.
• Avoid words with rare letters as the only correct guesses. A six-letter word with one Q and one X is a coin flip for an early miss. For young players, "BANANA" is a better fit than "QUARTZ".
• Use this week's spelling list. Pasting the actual list students are studying turns review into a game without prep. The repetition reinforces the spelling at the same time as the recognition.
• Build lists bigger than one round. 20–30 words means each replay pulls a different random word from the same source — same list, different game.

Privacy and what's saved

This game runs entirely in your browser. Word lists, guessed letters, and round results never leave the device. There are no accounts, no analytics, no telemetry. The only thing saved is your current win streak and best streak of the session, kept in your own browser's local storage so they survive a page reload. The Reset streak button clears them. Close the tab and the word list is gone.

Frequently asked questions