HANGMAN

A classic terminal-based Hangman game written in Python. Guess the hidden word one letter at a time before the hangman is completed.

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Features

• Lightweight — no external libraries required
• Plays in your terminal with a simple text UI
• Randomized words from words.txt for every round
• Replayable without restarting the program

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Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• No other dependencies

Install Python (brief platform guide):

• macOS

  • Using Homebrew (recommended if you have Homebrew):

    brew update
    brew install python

    After install use python3 and pip3, e.g. python3 --version.

  • Or download the official installer from https://www.python.org/downloads/mac-osx/ and run it.

• Windows

  • Download the official installer from https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/ and run it. During installation, check "Add Python to PATH".
  • Alternatively install from the Microsoft Store or use a package manager (Chocolatey: choco install python).
  • Verify with py -3 --version or python --version in PowerShell/CMD.

• Linux

  • Debian/Ubuntu:

    sudo apt update
    sudo apt install python3 python3-venv

  • Fedora/CentOS:

    sudo dnf install python3

  • Most distributions provide Python 3 via their package manager; you can also use pyenv to install specific versions.

Verification

Run:

python3 --version

(or py -3 --version on some Windows setups) — it should report Python 3.7 or newer.

Optional (recommended for development)

Create and activate a virtual environment:

• macOS / Linux:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

• Windows (PowerShell):

python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

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Quick Start

1. Open a terminal in the project directory (the directory that contains main.py).

2. Run the game with:

   python3 main.py

   Notes:

   • The word list is read from words.txt (a JSON array of words). Do not edit the file format. To add more words, you have to use the exact file format.
   • Enter a single lowercase letter as your guess. The game expects lowercase input (words are stored and compared in lowercase).
   • To quit at any time, press Ctrl+C.

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How to Play

• When the program starts, type start to begin.
• During the game type a single letter and press Enter to guess.
• Correct guesses reveal that letter in the word.
• Incorrect guesses advance the hangman drawing. You are allowed 6 incorrect guesses; on the 7th stage the game ends.
• If you guess the entire word before running out of incorrect guesses, you win.
• After a round ends you may type play again to start another round.

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Example session (shortened)

Type 'start' to start the game!

Then guess letters like:

_ _ _ _ _
Enter your guess: a
_ a _ _ _

The game will show the current hangman ASCII art, the partially revealed word, and prompt for the next guess.

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Project Structure

• main.py — game loop and input handling
• hangman.py — ASCII art and helper for printing the hangman
• utilities.py — input validation and result messages
• words.txt — JSON list of words used by the game
• LICENSE.md — project license

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome. If you'd like to propose a change or fix:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a branch for your change
3. Open a pull request with a short description of your changes

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License

See LICENSE.md for license details.