Hanging man is one of the most popular society games known .
The word to guess is represented by a row of dashes, representing each letter of the word. In most variants, proper nouns, such as names, places, and brands, are not allowed.[citation needed] Slang words, sometimes referred to as informal or shortened words, are also not allowed. If the guessing player suggests a letter which occurs in the word, the other player writes it in all its correct positions. If the suggested letter does not occur in the word, the other player draws one element of a hanged stick figure as a tally mark.
The player guessing the word may, at any time, attempt to guess the whole word.[citation needed] If the word is correct, the game is over and the guesser wins. Otherwise, the other player may choose to penalize the guesser by adding an element to the diagram. On the other hand, if the guesser makes enough incorrect guesses to allow the other player to complete the diagram, the guesser loses. However, the guesser can also win by guessing all the letters that appear in the word, thereby completing the word, before the diagram is completed.
The following example game illustrates a player trying to guess the word hangman using a strategy based solely on letter frequency. As the player continues, a part of the stick figure on the noose is added. Once a full body is drawn, the game is over, and the player lost.
0
Hangman-0.png
Word: hangman
Guess: E
Misses:
1
Hangman-1.png
Word: _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Guess: T
Misses: e
2
Hangman-2.png
Word: _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Guess: A
Misses: e, t
3
Hangman-2.png
Word: _ A _ _ _ A _
Guess: O
Misses: e, t
4
Hangman-3.png
Word: _ A _ _ _ A _
Guess: I
Misses: e, o, t
5
Hangman-4.png
Word: _ A _ _ _ A _
Guess: S
Misses: e, i, o, t
6
Hangman-5.png
Word: _ A _ _ _ A _
Guess: N
Misses: e, i, o, s, t
7
Hangman-5.png
Word: _ A N _ _ A N
Guess: R
Misses: e ,i, o, s, t
8
Hangman-6.png
Word: _ A N _ _ A N
Guess:
Misses: e, i, o, r, s, t
The guessing player has lost this game as the diagram had been completed before all the letters were guessed.