Category: Games
Price: Free
TiP Rating: 5/5
Updated: June 29, 2011
Current Version: 4.04
Seller: Zynga
Rated: 4+
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Link to app

App Store Description: The creative geniuses behind Words With Friends are pleased to bring you your next word game addiction: Hanging With Friends!

Summary: Looking for a new way to play Words With Friends? Hanging With Friends applies the same concept to Hangman instead of Scrabble, with new gameplay and features far different from any other game.

Review: If only I could click a button to automatically download this game onto each of my friends iPhones.  That way, I wouldn’t have to spend weeks like I did with Words With Friends to convince them to join me and play.  If that statement doesn’t show how much I enjoy playing Hanging With Friends, I’m not sure what will.

Opening the app is extremely familiar, due to the same user interface as Words With Friends.  To start a new game, tap the green plus sign and choose between connecting with Facebook, finding a random opponent, searching by username, choosing from your contact list, or selecting pass and play to compete by handing the iPhone to a friend for a local game.

Once the game begins, you will see the avatar you set for yourself hanging by five balloons.  Next to him/her is your opponent in the same situation.  You are both conveniently floating above a pool of hot lava.

The gameplay is fairly simple, you guess the word that your opponent created for you and then create a word for them to guess, and so on.  It’s not complicated at all, and the graphics and animations are great.  After each word you fail to solve, a balloon pops and your avatar eventually plummets into the lava below, losing the game.  Also, each word you create is worth points which add up in a point bank (though I am still unsure of the significance of this).

Solving the word puzzle is fun, too.  You are only allowed so many guesses (just like in Hangman) and depending on how creative your opponent is, the words can be extremely challenging to figure out.  No game will ever be like the one before it, and multiple games can be played at the same time, providing you with endless fun.  You can also chat your opponent right from the app, making it easy to taunt them after they fail to guess your word.

Hanging With Friends takes the traditional game of Hangman and turns it into a fun, creative new way to play the game.  Also, the free version provides every aspect of the game, however it does inconvenience you with advertisements after each turn.  The design is beautiful, the gameplay is simple, and the fun is never-ending. What could possibly make this game better?