Project: guessing game with high score

What you'll learn

Build a game with a while loop and break
Save a record in a file and load it again
Catch a missing file with try/except

A game that remembers

So far every program forgets everything as soon as it ends. A real game, though, remembers your record – even after a restart. To do that, it saves the record in a file. Here you build a guessing game that does exactly that.

The game loop with break

When guessing, you don’t know in advance how many rounds there will be. That’s why the loop runs “forever” – until break ends it:

secret = 7
guesses = 0
while True:
    try:
        guess = int(input("Number from 1 to 10: "))
    except ValueError:
        print("Please type a number.")
        continue
    guesses += 1
    if guess == secret:
        word = "guess" if guesses == 1 else "guesses"
        print(f"Hit after {guesses} {word}!")
        break
    print("Not quite.")

Saving and loading the record

With open(name, "w") you write to a file, with open(name) you read it. Files always contain text – that’s why you use str() when writing and int() when reading:

with open("record.txt", "w") as file:
    file.write(str(5))

with open("record.txt") as file:
    record = int(file.read())

print("Saved record:", record)
print("Twice as good would be:", record // 2)

Good to know: Here in the browser the file stays until you reload the page. On your own computer it stays forever – so there your record really is saved.

When the file is missing

In the very first game there is no file yet. open() would then stop with a FileNotFoundError. With try/except you catch that:

try:
    with open("does_not_exist.txt") as file:
        record = int(file.read())
except FileNotFoundError:
    record = None

if record is None:
    print("No record yet – you're the first!")
else:
    print("Record:", record)

None means “nothing”. With record is None you check whether there is a record yet.

Real randomness

In the task the secret number is fixed so that the check works. For the real game you use the module random:

import random

secret = random.randint(1, 100)
print("Psst, the number is", secret)

Keep building: When your task works, replace secret = 42 with random.randint(1, 100). Also save the name of the record holder (for example as a second line in the file) or build difficulty levels with number ranges of different sizes.

Your task

Your turn

Program a guessing game with a record. Ask for a number with input("Your guess: ") until it is right. Answer with Too small! or Too big!, and on a hit with Correct! Guesses: 3. After that, load the record from the file FILE (if it doesn't exist yet, there is no record yet either). If you needed fewer guesses than the record – or there is no record yet – print New record! and save your guesses in the file. Otherwise print Record: 2 guesses (with the real record).

FILE = "highscore.txt"
secret = 42  # later: secret = random.randint(1, 100)
guesses = 0

# 1. Let the player guess until the number is right

# 2. Load the record, compare and maybe save

Something to think about
Use while True and end the loop with break as soon as the guess is right. Add 1 to guesses for every guess.
Which command helps?
Catch the missing file with try/except FileNotFoundError and write the record with open(FILE, "w").
Compare with guesses < record. Only then is the file written again.

Gap code – fill in the ___

                        FILE = "highscore.txt"
secret = 42  # later: secret = random.randint(1, 100)
guesses = 0

while ___:
    guess = ___
    guesses += ___
    if ___:
        print(___)
    elif ___:
        print(___)
    else:
        print(___)
        break

try:
    with ___ as file:
        record = ___
except FileNotFoundError:
    record = ___

if ___:
    print(___)
    with ___ as file:
        file.write(___)
else:
    print(___)

Solve it without hints to earn a ⭐ on your progress page.

Show solution

Try it yourself first – mistakes teach you the most. Here is one possible solution:

FILE = "highscore.txt"
secret = 42  # later: secret = random.randint(1, 100)
guesses = 0

while True:
    guess = int(input("Your guess: "))
    guesses += 1
    if guess < secret:
        print("Too small!")
    elif guess > secret:
        print("Too big!")
    else:
        print(f"Correct! Guesses: {guesses}")
        break

try:
    with open(FILE) as file:
        record = int(file.read())
except FileNotFoundError:
    record = None

if record is None or guesses < record:
    print("New record!")
    with open(FILE, "w") as file:
        file.write(str(guesses))
else:
    print(f"Record: {record} {'guess' if record == 1 else 'guesses'}")