Hangman is terrifying if you think about it

Typically, the incorrect guesses assemble a hanging man. The order usually goes from head, to spine, to each arm, to each leg. If the stickman is assembled, the guesser loses.

But let's take this to the perspective of the stickman:

Imagine your first ever conscious experience of the world is you, as a standalone head, on a noose, with a bunch of underscores floating above you.

Every single time a letter is incorrectly guessed, more of your body materializes and becomes attached to you. Your vertebrae, arms, and eventually legs.

My headcanon for why it stops at the legs is that the total weight of all the body parts attached together becomes too much for your neck, and you die of asphyxiation from the noose. You are relying on kindergarten children to stop you from DYING the first minute of your life, and your only savior is whatever word those underscores are supposed to carry.
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Let's put this into an actual plotline of a short story:

It starts off with a scene of a typical classroom playing hangman, before transitioning to the stickman's perspective. They play a round, and letters are guessed. Some are correct, some are not.

The stickman gets heavier with his body parts getting attached. Eventually, there is only 1 letter left to guess.

_ I L L E R

Desperate, he clings on to the hope that maybe... just maybe... the final letter will be guessed.

The kids think for a damn long time, trying not to get it wrong, even if not because of your mortality. But ultimately, they guess "K" instead of "F" (because kids love morbid stuff for no damn reason).

And then your final leg is attached. The weight is too much. The noose tightens. You choke, and your body flails for just a moment before it goes limp. Seconds before you lose your hearing, all you can hear is the innocent giggles of the kids saying, “Aw, man, we lost...”
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Man. And the fact that this game is often played to entertain/educate kids in schools, just wow...