What is Word categories?
Word categories give Hangman a subject. Before the game the table chooses a category: animals, food, sports, music, science or travel (the preset uses animals). The category is shown to both players from the start, so the guesser can think of likely words before guessing a single letter.
When the computer picks the word, it takes it from its own list for that category. A human word picker may type any word, as at a real table, and the category is their promise of what kind of word it is. The other rules are the standard game: one letter per guess, 6 wrong letters lose, and the guesser wins by showing the whole word.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Hangman | Word categories |
|---|---|---|
| The subject of the word | Standard HangmanAny word: the guesser knows only its length. | Word categoriesA category chosen in the setup and shown to both players: animals, food, sports, music, science or travel. |
| The computer's word | Standard HangmanA word from its general list. | Word categoriesA word from its list for the chosen category. |
| A human word picker | Standard HangmanTypes any word of 3 to 20 letters. | Word categoriesThe same, and the category tells the guesser what kind of word to expect; choosing a word that fits it is up to the picker. |
| Word length | Standard HangmanAny length from 3 to 20 letters. | Word categoriesAny length, or short (3 to 5 letters), medium (6 or 7) or long (8 or more) words within the category. |
| Other options | Standard Hangman6 lives and no clock. | Word categoriesThe other options can be set alongside it: 8 or 10 lives, evil hangman, which then keeps only words from the category, and a clock for each guess. |
History
Guessing a word from a known subject is one of the oldest recorded forms of the game. Alice Bertha Gomme's The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, published in 1894, describes a game called Birds, Beasts and Fishes: one player writes the first and last letters of the name of an animal, with a dash for each letter between, and the other players guess the missing letters. That version keeps score by the number of tries and has no drawing of a hanged man, which appears in later accounts of the game.
Categories remain a common way to play, at home and in classrooms. The six categories here and their word lists are this site's own.