In Hangman, one is often forced to change the word in mind on the fly, because lucky early guesses make it obvous that the guesser will avoid the noose. Some might call this cheating but it takes some skill to come up with another word which is the same as the current word as regards all letters known and not known to be present, but differs as regards the current letter proposed by the condemned.

In slippery hangman, one can get credits for adeptly steering the execution to its conclusion. One must write down the initial word. Subsequent changes are also recorded. If the condemned hangs, points go to the executioner. But if the condemned guesses the word the points go to her.

Words must be over a certain length. There is a timer for the executioner within which he must change the word and say "no, that letter is not in the word". Of course letters guessed earlier in the game cannot change their status: in or out. This would be well suited to online play against a computer opponent.

This game was inspired by my nephew Riley, who serially changes hiding places while playing hide and seek.
-- bungston, May 08 2015

[ ] (+ Riley, - dealing with corporate and government droids as an adult)

Needs more cowbell. You have to change the word before the person makes a guess.
-- FlyingToaster, May 08 2015


Kudos to Riley.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, May 09 2015


Thinking more about this - too much? I imagine an online site where your account garners credits for wins and loses them for losses. You can play the computer: a series of characters of different strengths. As your credit tally moves up, easier characters are disallowed.

You must accrue n credits against the computer before playing other players, because nothing is more annoying than an online game vs someone who does not care.

When seeking games vs real players or computers, one could lay out "stakes": for example high rollers with many credits can play games for orders of magnitude greater than the proletariat with few credits.

And the business model: to assuage your pride after a big loss, buy credits with real money! Woo!

A problem: churn. If changing the word ups the pot one might change with every letter to get maximum pot. But that cuts both ways: you can win more but might lose more.
-- bungston, May 10 2015


If the unguessed letters are not communicated then how does changing the word add any interest to the condemned, other than to simply lock the choices in to words that have a number of rhymes or otherwise similarities in spelling?
-- RayfordSteele, May 10 2015


Changing the word is to dodge the condemned. For example my condemned has guessed h, i and y of "chicory". She guesses C, and I know once she sees that she will then guess the word. So I change the word to "thirdly" and add C to the wrong letters pile, and one more limb to the hanged. She gets t and l. When she guesses R I want to change it to "thirsty" but cannot; she has already guessed T and so I cannot put a new one in.

She cannot see the original word or subsequent changes until the game is done.

I think to avoid people preparing lists of words and word changes in advance, the first word should be random. The skill then for the hangman is coming up with word changes on the fly, thus earning the increased score that each word change brings.

Of course there would be a multilingual version; one could note how many different languages would be allowed as regards word changes. Probably they would need to stay in the latin alphabet.
-- bungston, May 12 2015


_ _ _ _ _
-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 12 2015


I'll take the Cyrillic tvjordyj znak...
-- RayfordSteele, May 13 2015


You want fries with that?
-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 13 2015


Only if they're from 5-Guys. Any condemned person deserves to have at least a decent fry.

(Hint, it's the least-used character in the Cyrillic alphabet).
-- RayfordSteele, May 14 2015


I appreciate your archaeologic endeavors of late, Mr Tindale. But you have lost me with this commentary on the speed of the chaotic state. Barely understanding what you mean, it seems as though hangman becomes less chaotic as the guessed letter constrain those which can still be guessed.
-- bungston, May 14 2016



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