🎮 Hangman - C++ Terminal Game

A classic Hangman game implemented in C++23 with a programming-themed word dictionary. Perfect for learning and entertainment!

✨ Features

• Terminal-based gameplay with ASCII art gallows
• Programming & CS word dictionary - 18 tech-related terms
• Persistent leaderboard that tracks high scores
• Input validation for robust gameplay
• Cross-platform compatibility (Linux, macOS, Windows)

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• C++23 compatible compiler (g++ 13+, clang++ 16+)
• Standard library support for filesystem

Compilation

g++ -Wall -Wextra -Werror -std=c++23 hangman.cpp -o hangman

Running the Game

./hangman

🎯 How to Play

1. The game selects a random programming/computer science term
2. Guess letters one at a time to reveal the word
3. You have 6 wrong guesses before the hangman is complete
4. Win by guessing the entire word before running out of lives
5. High scores are saved based on the fewest total guesses

📊 Leaderboard System

• Scores are saved in ~/.local/share/hangman/leaderboard.txt
• Tracks the top 15 scores with fewest guesses
• Enter your initials (up to 3 letters) when you achieve a high score
• Leaderboard persists between game sessions

📚 Word Dictionary

The game includes programming and computer science terms like:

• COMPUTER, PROGRAM, KEYBOARD, MOUSE
• CODING, DEVELOPER, LINUX, TERMINAL
• GITHUB, PYTHON, JAVASCRIPT, RUST
• And more tech-related words!

🛠️ Technical Details

• Language: C++23
• Random Number Generation: Mersenne Twister (std::mt19937)
• File Storage: Uses std::filesystem for cross-platform compatibility
• Data Structures: std::vector, std::set, std::string for efficient gameplay

📁 File Structure

hangman/
├── hangman.cpp          # Main game source code
├── hangman              # Compiled executable
└── README.md           # This file

🎮 Controls

• Enter single letters to make guesses
• Type 'y' to play again after a game ends
• Type 'n' to exit the game
• Letters are case-insensitive (automatically converted to uppercase)

🏆 Scoring

• Win condition: Guess the complete word before 6 wrong guesses
• High score: Based on total number of guesses used (fewer is better)
• Persistence: High scores are saved and displayed at the start of each game

🤝 Contributing

Feel free to:

• Add more words to the dictionary
• Improve the ASCII art
• Add new features like difficulty levels
• Fix any bugs you find

📄 License

This project is open source. Feel free to use, modify, and distribute as you see fit.

---