How do you play Hangman Word Guess?
The screen shows one blank wooden tile per letter, and you press letters on the keyboard one at a time to fill in the hidden word. A letter that is in the word is carved into every tile where it belongs. A letter that is not in the word melts one piece of the snowman. Fill every tile before seven misses and you win.
The rules are the classic hangman rules, but instead of a gallows the picture is a snowman melting in the sun. Wrong letters shake and go gray on the keyboard, right letters stay green, so you always see what you have tried. When you solve a word, snow falls, the snowman stands up again and the next word appears right away. Misses are counted fresh for every word.
In what order does the snowman melt?
Each miss drops one piece in this order: hat, scarf, arms, buttons, face, body, and on the seventh miss only a puddle is left. The sun grows with every miss and the sky slowly turns warmer.
| Misses | What happens | Chances left |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The top hat slides off into the snow | 6 |
| 2 | The scarf unwinds and drops | 5 |
| 3 | Both stick arms fall out | 4 |
| 4 | The three coal buttons roll away | 3 |
| 5 | Eyes, carrot nose and mouth drop | 2 |
| 6 | The body sags into a lump | 1 |
| 7 | Only a puddle remains and the answer is shown | none |
The seven snowflakes at the top left are your remaining chances. With one flake left, guess only letters you are sure about.
What keyboard does each language use?
The English version uses a 26 key A to Z keyboard laid out in alphabetical rows. The Japanese version uses a hiragana gojuon keyboard where voiced marks and small kana count as their base key, and the Korean version shows 12 to 16 syllable candidates mixed from the word and from other words, because Korean words are built from whole syllables rather than single letters.
On a physical keyboard you can simply type letters in the English version. Letters you have already tried are ignored, so a repeated key never costs a miss. The arrow keys move a highlight across the keyboard and Enter or Space confirms, which also works on the Japanese and Korean keyboards.
Which letters should you try first?
Counting the words in this game's own dictionary, E, A, R and N appear in the most English words, with E and A in more than half of them. Opening with those letters usually reveals a tile or two before you lose a single piece.
| Language | Most common letters in this game | Note |
|---|---|---|
| English | E · A · R · N · O · I · T · S · L · C | E is in 57% of words, A in 55% |
| Korean | 이 · 스 · 사 · 리 · 아 · 수 · 가 · 기 · 자 · 국 | 이 is in roughly one word in ten |
| Japanese | ん · し · い · う · か · き · く · と · た · ら | ん is in one word out of three |
Topics shift the odds. Country names love vowels and the ending A, sports often end in ING, and jobs often end in ER or IST. Once a few tiles are open, use their positions to narrow the word before spending another guess.
How do hints, streaks and scores work?
The topic name shown on screen is your first hint at all times, and the First letter button reveals the first letter of the word. You can use it once per word and it costs 40 points for that word.
- Streak: goes up by one for every solved word and ends the moment the snowman melts away. Your best streak is saved in this browser.
- Score: every word is worth 100 points plus 15 for each snowflake you still have. A clean solve is 205 points, and the hint takes 40 away.
- Ranks: the result screen names you Snowman apprentice, Snowfield detective, Word hunter, Guardian of the snowman or Librarian of winter depending on your streak.
What is the daily word?
Press Daily word on the title screen and you get one word fixed for the date, the same word for everyone on the same day. When you solve it or melt, the result screen appears at once and Share result sends your miss count to friends.
In daily mode the keyboard candidates are fixed by the date as well, so everyone plays under the same conditions. A new word arrives at midnight Korean time.
What topics are there?
Animals, food, countries, jobs, sports and everyday things: six topics with more than 40 words each, and choosing All mixes all six. A word never repeats within one game.
| Topic | Examples | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Animals | HEDGEHOG, FLAMINGO, CROCODILE | 3 to 9 letters |
| Food | CROISSANT, DUMPLING, CHEESECAKE | 4 to 10 letters |
| Countries | PORTUGAL, SWITZERLAND, ARGENTINA | 4 to 11 letters |
| Jobs | FIREFIGHTER, PHARMACIST, VETERINARIAN | 4 to 12 letters |
| Sports | BADMINTON, WEIGHTLIFTING, TRIATHLON | 4 to 13 letters |
| Everyday things | MICROWAVE, CHOPSTICKS, UMBRELLA | 3 to 10 letters |
Tips for keeping the snowman alive
- Read the topic first. Topic plus letter count alone often leaves only a handful of candidates.
- Start with common letters. E, A, R, N, then O and I, before trying rarer ones.
- Use the positions of open tiles. An ending in ER usually means a job, an ending in ING usually means a sport.
- Spend the hint at two flakes. Once the first letter is open the word is almost always obvious.
- Avoid rare letters until the end. Q, X, Z and J only pay off when the rest of the word points to them.
Controls
- Phone and mouse: tap a key to guess that letter. The First letter button sits under the tiles on the right.
- Keyboard: type A to Z directly, or move with the arrow keys and confirm with Enter or Space. Slash (/) uses the hint, and Enter on the result screen starts the next game.
- Top right buttons: the speaker toggles sound effects, the house returns to the title screen.
Your best streak, best score, sound setting and last topic are stored only in this browser and never sent to a server. Every picture and sound is drawn and synthesized in code, so nothing is downloaded.