A point was made in Hangman: add canonical data - #4 by mk-mxp that we may want to consider a non-violent exercise name. I propose we deprecate Hangman and replace it with a new exercise that has the same content with mentions of violence removed. If canonical data gets added per the linked thread, we’ll include that in the new exercise.
My immediate thought goes to children building a snowman. That still conveys the wrong guesses building up to a figure so it’ll be recognizable. There’s also Word Guess, although that’s a bit generic and sounds similar to the existing Word Search exercise. Thoughts?
Yeah, taking slices out of a pie would make a lot of sense since eventually you run out of slices and that’s obviously a bad thing. Building up a snowman is a bit muddled since why would it be a bad thing to complete the snowman. That also gives you a nice introduction. Maybe you’re betting with a family member you can get the word they’re thinking of and the fewer guesses made, the more pie you get.
Got curious as to alternatives, so did a quick search. I rather like “Save the Cow”. It was recently turned into an online game during an itch.io game jam.
As you guess wrong, the cow levitates toward a spacecraft that is trying to abduct it.
There is also a version where you try to save the cow from a wolf. And we could possibly do a variant where we try to save a deer or some other critter. However, “save the cow!” feels fun.
Or in reverse: Feed the otter. Where wrong guesses move the yummy food further away from a hungry critter.
I’ve also seen Sink the Pirate Ship, Defend the Castle, and Feed the Mouse (like feed the otter).
The canonical data for Hangman is merged-in so we can reuse that for the proposed non-violent replacement
To recap, we’ve got children building a snowman, slices of pie being taken away, saving an animal from predators, helping feed an animal, sinking a pirate ship, and defending the castle. Any other ideas?
Pie Slices is neutral. It feels better though to me if the exercise title reflects more the problem than the framing story. Missing Slices references how slices are taken away. Going completely away from the framing story, Limited Guesses gives a lot of context, but that’s not catchy at all if someone wants to riff off those.
A mischievous alien has abducted your favorite cow Bessie and is holding her hostage aboard their spaceship! They are demanding you guess a secret word before they’ll let her go. Guess the letters in time, but beware every wrong guess brings the ship one step closer to blasting off.
Missing Slice
Grandma thinks she finally outsmarted you with her latest game and she’s so confident she wagered her famous pie on it! Try and guess her secret word, but beware there’s a catch: for every wrong guess, she cuts herself a slice. Guess the word before all the pie is gone.
