Make Your Own Hangman

Make your own hangman puzzle in a minute

Secret Word lets you make your own hangman puzzle and send it to someone as a link. You choose the secret word, add a hint if you like, and write a short message. Your friend guesses the word one letter at a time; when they solve it, your message appears. It works as a birthday note, an inside joke, a thank-you or a little challenge for a group chat.

Everything happens in the browser. There is nothing to install and no account to make, for you or for the person you send it to.

How to make your own hangman

1. Press Play, then Make a secret word.
2. Type your first name and pick a theme: Classic, or Christmas with snow and a gift-box reveal. Your friend sees "Maya sent you a secret word".
3. Choose the secret word: 3 to 12 letters, A to Z, no spaces. Accents are removed, so "café" becomes CAFE.
4. Add a hint (optional): up to 40 characters, such as "our Sunday breakfast" or "the city where we met".
5. Write the message they unlock (optional): up to 160 characters. Links are not allowed.
6. Create your link and send it with the WhatsApp, X or Telegram buttons, your phone's share menu, or copy it.

How your friend plays

Your friend opens the link and sees blanks for each letter, your hint and six lives. They tap letters on the on-screen keyboard or type them on a keyboard. A right letter fills every place it appears in the word; a wrong letter costs one life.

• If they solve it, confetti falls and your message is revealed, signed with your name.
• If they run out of lives, they still see the word and your message. It is a gift, after all.
• Either way, they can tell you who they are and press Send one back to make their own hangman for you.

See who played your hangman

Open your own link to see everyone who has played it, whether they solved it, and how many lives they had left. If a name appears that you do not want there, press Remove next to it. Your friend's progress is saved in their browser, so if they close the page halfway, they can come back to the same puzzle.

Ideas when you make your own hangman

• Birthdays: the word is their favourite treat, and the message is your birthday wish.
• Thank-yous: the word is the thing they helped with, and the message says thanks.
• Inside jokes: a word only the two of you would guess, with a hint that makes them laugh.
• Group chats: one word, sent to everyone, and the list shows who cracked it with the most lives left.
• Holidays: choose the Christmas theme for a snowy puzzle that opens like a gift. See our Christmas hangman page for 42 ready-made Christmas words.

Tips to make your own hangman fun to solve

• Medium length works best. Six to nine letters gives enough blanks to be fun without being impossible.
• Words with common letters are easier. Letters like E, A, R, S and T fill in quickly; J, Q, X and Z make a word much harder.
• Write a hint that helps but does not give it away. "Something we ate in Rome" is better than "pizza".
• Keep the message personal and short. It is the reward for solving, so make it worth reading.

Keeping it friendly

Messages and hints cannot contain links, and every secret word has a Report this message link. A message that several people report is hidden automatically while we review it. Please do not put private information such as addresses or phone numbers in a message; anyone who has the link can open it.

For more word puzzles, play our daily word guessing game, or make a how well do you know me quiz for your friends.