😵 How to create a Hangman activity

The Hangman template is a classic word-guessing game where students must complete a word or phrase by picking the correct letters before the executioner is finished!

IN THIS ARTICLE:

• How is the Hangman activity played?
• How and what do you type into Edit content for Hangman?
• Where can I find some more examples?

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How the game is played

• Students click on letters to reveal the hidden word.

• For every correct letter, the word fills in. For every incorrect letter, a part of the hangman figure is drawn.

• Points are awarded for correct guesses, with bonus points given for speed.

• Once finished, students can see their score, check the leader board, or review the correct answers.

  

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Creating the Hangman activity

• Click Create Activity and choose Hangman.

  
   

• Decide if you want your activity to have Clues (text or images) or if you want it to be Without Clues (letters only).

• Type the Word or Phrase you want students to guess.

  • If you enabled clues, add a Text Description or Upload an Image to give a hint.

• Click Add a phrase or press Enter to add the next word in your set.

• Click Done to save your activity.

  
   

• On the activity page, use the Options menu below the game to change the timer, life count, or visual theme.

  

  • Timer:

    • None: Students can review clues and solve words at their own leisure without clock pressure.

    • Count up: Tracks exactly how long it takes for a student to successfully solve the target words.

    • Count down: Sets a strict time limit (e.g., 5 minutes) to challenge rapid mental processing.

  • Allowed guesses:

    • Use the numerical selector to determine how many wrong letter selections a student can make before failing the word. In the screenshot, this is set to 7 guesses.

    • Lower case letters: Check this box if you want the game's letter board to be formatted in lowercase.

  • Random:

    • Shuffle item order: If checked, this randomises the sequence of your words so they appear in a completely different order every time a student plays.

  • Keyboard language:

    • Auto: Wordwall automatically detects your language based on your text content and provides the appropriate layout. You can also click the drop-down menu to manually select a specific regional keyboard layout.

  • Scoring:

    • Points for each remaining guess: Rewards efficiency by giving a higher score based on how many unused guesses are left over when the word is solved.

    • 1 point per item: Grants a flat rate of one point for each correctly completed word, regardless of how many failed letter guesses were made.

  • End of game:

    • Show answers: Allows students to review the fully completed words at the end of the session to see any vocabulary terms they missed.

  • Saving options:

    • Apply to this activity: Saves these specific choices only for the activity you are currently editing.

    • More: Click this drop-down to find:

      • Set as default for template: Saves these settings as your "go-to" configuration for every future activity you create using the Hangman template.

      • Revert to default: This clears any custom changes you’ve made to the Options panel and returns the settings to your own previously saved personal defaults.

      • Revert to author's setting: Restores the activity parameters back to the original layout configured by the initial community creator.

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Creating Hangman with AI 

You don't need to be a prompt expert to use our AI. It is designed to be intuitive and accessible directly from within the editor.

1. Click Create Activity and select Hangman.

   
    

2.  Look for the ✨ Generate with AI button (magic wand icon) at the top right of the content table.

   
    

3. Enter Your Content:

   • Topic: Type a subject like "Planets" or "Compound Words."

   • Text/Notes: Paste a paragraph from a lesson to have the AI extract key vocabulary.

   • File: Upload a PDF or Word doc to create a word list from your own materials.

4. Click Generate. The AI will automatically fill the "Phrases" and "Clues" columns.

5. Make any manual tweaks and hit Done.

   

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Need Inspirations?

You don't have to start from scratch! Thousands of teachers have shared their Hangman games with the public.

See: Examples of Hangman activities