Play Guide
Everything you need to know to play and score big.
How to Play
- 1A secret word is chosen at random from one of the categories below.
- 2Each letter slot appears as a blank dash. Your goal is to reveal the full word.
- 3Click any letter on the on-screen keyboard — or press a key on your physical keyboard — to make a guess.
- 4A correct guess lights up every matching letter in the word.
- 5A wrong guess costs you one life and adds a body part to the hangman figure.
- 6You have 6 wrong guesses before the game ends. Guess the word before then to win!
Controls
On-screen keyboard
Tap any letter button on the keyboard displayed below the word.
Physical keyboard
Press any letter key on your keyboard — works the same way.
New Game
After a game ends (win or loss) click 'New Game' to start fresh.
Reveal Word
The full word is always shown at the end if you didn't guess it in time.
Scoring System
Each win earns you points based on how quickly and accurately you solved the word:
Score = 1000 − (mistakes × 100) − (seconds × 2)
Minimum 100 points per win • 0 points for a loss
Perfect run
0 wrong, 30 sec
940
pts
Solid game
2 wrong, 60 sec
680
pts
Close call
5 wrong, 90 sec
320
pts
Tips for a High Score
Start with vowels
E, A, I, O, U appear in almost every English word. Guess them early.
Then try common consonants
T, N, S, R, and L are among the most frequent consonants in English.
Watch the category
The word's category is shown throughout the game — use it to narrow your guesses.
Speed matters
Every second counts. Once you're fairly sure of the word, commit and type it out fast.
Avoid rare letters last
Save Q, Z, X, and J for when you need them. Guessing them blindly wastes lives.
Build streaks
Winning multiple games in a row builds your current streak — visible in your stats.
Word Categories
Words are drawn from 11 categories, with over 2,500 words in the pool. The category is always shown during play.
Animals272 words
Technology207 words
Food228 words
Nature242 words
Science217 words
Sports155 words
Music194 words
Countries201 words
Entertainment165 words
History187 words
General463 words
Leaderboard
The global leaderboard ranks all players by their total points accumulated across every game. Your average points per game is also shown so you can compare consistency, not just volume. Sign in with Google to get on the board.
Score History
Every game you play is saved to your personal history. Visit the History page (in the top nav) after signing in to review your past games, check your win rate, current and best streaks, total points, and your best single-game score.