Super Hangman! Mini Edition Review

Super Hangman! Mini Edition takes gamers back to the days when hangman was a simple game. There are no power-ups, second-chances or clothing added to the hangman. Players either guess the right word or it’s game over for the little stick man.

What’s great about Super Hangman! Mini Edition is that it includes over 3000 words spread across multiple categories that range from animals and music to sports and science. Players are free to select their desired category before a game mode is chosen.

There are three modes to play: levels, timed and relaxed. Levels mode requires players to beat the clock in order to unlock the next level of puzzles. Players are given three lives to do this. Timed mode is just racing against the clock and relaxed mode doesn’t include any timer at all.

Upbeat music plays in the background as players try to guess the word. I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off, so I ended up putting my phone on silent as it gets pretty repetitive. When a letter is guessed wrong, the hangman slowly begins to appear. First his head, then his body and finally his arms and legs. The game also features what appears to be a cartoon-like Albert Einstein to the right of the hangman. Each time a letter is guessed wrong, another book is piled on top of his stack. When it’s game over, the hangman is complete and the books topple over.

While there’s no Game Center integration, Super Hangman! Mini Edition does feature its own leaderboard. I was a little disappointed that there weren’t any achievements or separate leaderboards for categories.

There were a few other letdowns that I noted while playing. The first is that there is no hint feature or way to get help when stuck on a word. Since there is no difficulty selection, I felt like some of the words warranted a subtle hint. Secondly, gamers can’t play with friends. The option to create custom words and invite friends to play either via Pass and Play, Bluetooth or Game Center would be a great improvement. Lastly, there needs to be animations or background changes to make the game play more interesting. The music, graphics and animations never change. Making the background match the word category, adding different sound effects or even completely changing how the hangman looks on each category would help vary things a bit.

Although Super Hangman! Mini Edition could use some minor improvements, the game is still enjoyable. With so many words to complete and three different modes, gamers are sure to brush up on their word solving skills. Whether players race against the clock or sit back and relax, it will challenge the mind and stretch the vocabulary.