Challenge: Let’s Make a Game

So now you’ve learned about:

print statements for talking to your users
variables, which are a way to get our program to remember and update values
strings, which are pieces of text
input for getting information from our user
maths: how to do maths with a number
integers, which are numbers for doing maths with
if statements, to make your code do something based on a condition
while loops, to make your code keep doing something until a condition isn’t true

You can use these tools and commands to make this game:

There is a number (an integer), between 1 and 9, that the program picks in secret
Players have 5 guesses to pick the number
The game teaches players the rules
Players are told after each guess whether the number is lower, higher, or correct, and how many guesses they have left
If players gets their guess right, they get a special winning message
If players gets their fifth guess wrong, the game is over and they lose

You can play an example of the game at dojo.soy/py-dice.

You’re missing just one thing to be able to write this game: a way to get a random number between 1 and 9. The code to do this is a little beyond what you’ve covered, but you can use it right now without understanding exactly how it works.

Put this as the first line in your program:

from random import randint as dice

Now, anywhere you want to use a random number between 1 and 9, just use dice(1,9). For example:

secret_number = dice(1,9)

Start a new Python program and try to make the game now!

Remember to use what you’ve learned on previous steps of this project.

Good luck!

I need a hint

You can keep track of the number of guesses players have used (or have left, depending on which way you look at it!) using a variable. You’ll need to write some code to change its value after each guess.

Then write the right condition for your while loop to check whether players have used up all their guesses.

Try using variables to store some of the other numbers too, such as the two numbers players should guess between, and the total number of guesses they are allowed.

Your program will work just fine even if you don’t do this, but defining things with variables is usually a good idea. One reason is that it makes your life easier if you decide to change these values later: then the only thing you need to change is the values you assign to the variables at the top of your program, and you don’t have to change all the places where you’ve used their values.

If you’re stuck, or when you’re done, you can check my answer at dojo.soy/python-ans. Don’t worry if yours looks very different — that doesn’t matter as long as it works.