The Hangman Game

Inspiration

The idea came from a simple frustration: most online versions of Hangman felt boring, repetitive, and lacked any real educational value. I wanted to reimagine it – to take a nostalgic game and turn it into something smart, personalized, dynamic, and even educational, without the player realizing they're learning.

What it does

The game uses AI to generate random words and matching hints based on chosen topics and difficulty levels. Each round presents a brand-new word that hasn’t been used before, along with a custom AI-generated hint. The result is an interactive, surprising, and fun gameplay experience with real learning value.

How we built it

The game was built with React for the interface and game logic, Supabase for user management, and OpenAI to generate the words and hints via prompt engineering. I also developed a local memory system to track previously used words and ensure variety throughout gameplay.

Challenges we ran into

Generating helpful but not-too-obvious AI hints

Preventing repeated words while maintaining a random feel

Creating a smooth, fast, and intuitive user experience

Balancing fun gameplay with meaningful learning

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Generating helpful but not-too-obvious AI hints

Preventing repeated words while maintaining a random feel

Creating a smooth, fast, and intuitive user experience

Balancing fun gameplay with meaningful learning

What we learned

Generating helpful but not-too-obvious AI hints

Preventing repeated words while maintaining a random feel

Creating a smooth, fast, and intuitive user experience

Balancing fun gameplay with meaningful learning

What's next for The Hanged Man Game

Generating helpful but not-too-obvious AI hints

Preventing repeated words while maintaining a random feel

Creating a smooth, fast, and intuitive user experience

Balancing fun gameplay with meaningful learning

Built With

• javascript/typescript
• local
• openai
• react
• storage
• supabase
• vercel