Home
Building a Hangman Game in Python: A Step-by-Step Guide

Building a Hangman Game in Python: A Step-by-Step Guide

January 12, 2025 Digital

Building a Hangman Game in Python: A Step-by-Step Guide

Creating a guessing game in Python is a fun and engaging project that can help you better understand programming concepts and improve your coding skills. In this article, we will walk you through the process of developing a simple Hangman game using Python's random module. This comprehensive guide includes a detailed step-by-step approach and a complete code example to get you started.

Import Required Libraries

To begin, we need to import the necessary Python libraries. The random module is essential for selecting a word at random from a predefined list. Here's how to import and use it:

import random

Define the List of Words

Create a list of words that the player can guess. This list should contain words you want to use in your game. Make sure to curate a list that is appropriate for your target audience.

words  ["python", "hangman", "programming", "development", "challenge"]

Set Up the Game Logic

Implement the main game loop where the player can guess letters and check if the guesses are correct. The game should handle various checks and update the display accordingly. Here's an overview of the game loop:

Initialize the game state with a set of guessed letters and the number of attempts. Run the game loop until the player either guesses the word or runs out of attempts. Display the current progress of the guessed word using underscores for unguessed letters. If the guessed letter is correct, update the set of guessed letters. Inform the player if the guessed letter is incorrect and decrement the number of attempts. Check if all letters have been guessed and end the game if so.

Complete Code

Here is a complete implementation of the Hangman game. This code includes all the necessary functions and logic to make the game work:

import random
# Function to select a random word from the list
def choose_word():
    words  ["python", "hangman", "programming", "development", "challenge"]
    return (words)
# Function to display the current progress of the word
def display_progress(word, guessed_letters):
    return ''.join(letter if letter in guessed_letters else '_' for letter in word)
# Main game function
def hangman():
    word_to_guess  choose_word()
    guessed_letters  set()
    attempts  6
    print("
Welcome to Hangman! You have 6 attempts to guess the word.")
    while attempts  0:
        print(f"
Attempts left: {attempts}
{display_progress(word_to_guess, guessed_letters)}")
        guess  input("Guess a letter: ").lower()
        if guess in guessed_letters:
            print("You already guessed that letter. Try again.")
        elif guess in word_to_guess:
            guessed_(guess)
            print(f"Good guess! {guess} is in the word.")
        else:
            guessed_(guess)
            attempts - 1
            print(f"Oops! {guess} is not in the word.")
        if all(letter in guessed_letters for letter in word_to_guess):
            print(f"
Congratulations! You guessed the word: {word_to_guess}. You win!")
            break
    else:
        print(f"
Sorry, you ran out of attempts. The word was: {word_to_guess}. Better luck next time!")
if __name__  '__main__':
    hangman()

Explanation of the Code

Let's break down the code:

1. choose_word(): This function randomly selects a word from the predefined list of words.

2. display_progress(word, guessed_letters): This function creates a string showing the current progress of the guessed word. It displays underscores for letters that haven't been guessed yet.

3. hangman(): This is the main function that runs the game. It handles the game loop, player input, and logic for checking guesses and updating the display.

The game loop continues until the player either guesses the word or runs out of attempts. After each guess, it checks if the guessed letter is in the word and updates the number of attempts accordingly.

Ending the game: The game ends when the player has guessed all the letters in the word or has used up all their attempts.

Running the Game

To run the game, simply run the script in a Python environment. The player will be prompted to guess letters until they either guess the word correctly or run out of attempts.

Further Customization

Feel free to modify the list of words or the number of attempts to customize the game further. You can also expand the game by adding features such as:

Timer to make the game more challenging Multiple levels with different word lists Integration with a user interface (CLI or GUI) Leaderboard to track the best scores

Enjoy building and customizing your Hangman game in Python!

Related Posts