Hangman

I don’t think there can be many British people who don’t know how to play Hangman, but one should not be parochial when setting up a website and it is perfectly possible that nurseries in other parts of the world are spared this gruesome (but nevertheless educational) little game.

Basically it is a simple game in which the letters that make up a word or phrase are represented by a row of blanks and someone has to guess what that phrase is by suggesting letters which might appear in it. A limited number of guesses are allowed within which to find the phrase. The novelty comes in with the method of keeping score. A game might begin thus:

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A clue of some sort is usually given as to the identity of what is to be guessed - here “a nursery story”. A gallows will also be drawn in order to form the basis of the scoring method. The player will suggest a letter - perhaps E. If there are any E’s in the target phrase, these must then be filled in by the game-master. There are E’s present in this case, and so the phrase will now look like:

_ E _ E _ _ _ _ _ _ E _ _ _ _

Note that all the E’s are written in. The player will then suggest another letter. If that is a correct guess, more filling in will occur in the phrase. But if his guess is wrong, part of the conventional picture of the stick man being hanged will be drawn in. The game progresses until sufficient letters are present for the player to make a correct guess at the identity of the whole phrase, in which case he wins, or until the drawing of the man is completed, at which point he loses. In the version illustrated here, the player is allowed six wrong guesses.

Here is the “score” sheet:

Obviously the number is not written in. The details can be varied: the rope can be drawn as part of the gallows, making the game harder by reducing the number of guesses allowed. When playing with very small children, the face of the man must also be drawn in - two eyes a nose and a mouth - making the game easier. The limbs etc. may be added in any order.

In case you were wondering what the answer was, it is:

P E T E R A N D T H E W O L F

The game’s educational content lies in making the player aware of the possibilities and conventions of the spelling of the language. It can be an excellent way of keeping people quiet during a long journey.