Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Python Python Basics (2015) Letter Game App Letter Game Refinement

Frederik Andersen
Frederik Andersen
10,012 Points
Posted by Frederik Andersen
Frederik Andersen
10,012 Points

Letter_game not letting me win when correct answer.

Hi. It would be nice if anyone of you could help me with this code. I cant trigger the win alltho the guess is right.

I suspect my fault is in the play fuction inside the while loop:

# where i suspect the fault is
while True:
        draw(bad_guesses, good_guesses, secret_word)
        guess = get_guess(bad_guesses, good_guesses)

        if guess in secret_word:
            good_guesses.append(guess)
            found = True
            for letter in secret_word:
                if list(letter) not in good_guesses:
                    found = False
                if found:
                    print("You Win!")
                    print("The secret word was {}".format(secret_word))

whole code:

import os
import random
import sys

# make a list of words
words = [
    'apple',
    'banana',
    'orange',
    'coconut',
    'strawberry',
    'lime',
    'grapefruit',
    'blueberry',
    'melon'
]

def clear():
    if os.name == 'nt':
        os.system('clr')
    else:
        os.system('clear')


def draw(bad_guesses, good_guesses, secret_word):
    clear()

    print('Strikes:{}/7'.format(len(bad_guesses)))
    print('')

    for letter in bad_guesses:
        print(letter, end='')
    print('\n\n')

    for letter in secret_word:
        if letter in good_guesses:
            print(letter, end='')
        else:
            print('_', end='')

    print('')


def get_guess(bad_guesses, good_guesses):
    while True:
        guess = input("Guess a letter: ").lower()

        if len(guess) != 1:
            print("You can only guess a single letter!")            
        elif guess in bad_guesses or guess in good_guesses:
            print("You've already guessed that letter!")
        elif not guess.isalpha():
            print("You can only guess letters!")
        else:
            return guess


def play(done):
    clear()
    secret_word = random.choice(words)
    bad_guesses = []
    good_guesses = []

    while True:
        draw(bad_guesses, good_guesses, secret_word)
        guess = get_guess(bad_guesses, good_guesses)

        if guess in secret_word:
            good_guesses.append(guess)
            found = True
            for letter in secret_word:
                if list(letter) not in good_guesses:
                    found = False
                if found:
                    print("You Win!")
                    print("The secret word was {}".format(secret_word))
        else:
            bad_guesses.append(guess)
            if len(bad_guesses) == 7:
                draw(bad_guesses, good_guesses, secret_word)
                print("You lost!")
                print("The secret word was {}".format(secret_word))
                done = True
            if done:
                play_again = input("Play again? Y/n ".lower())
                if play_again != 'n':
                    return play(done=False)
                else:
                    sys.exit()

def welcome():
    start = input("Press enter/return to start or Q to quit.").lower()
    if start == 'q':
        print('Bye!')
        sys.exit()
    else:
         return True

print('Welcome to Letter Guess!')

done = False

while True:
    clear()
    welcome()
    play(done)

1 Answer

Chris Freeman
MOD
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points
Chris Freeman
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points

Hi Frederik, I found four errors in the play() function:

  • An if statement compares list(letter) not in good_gueses. This will never be true since only letters are in good_gueses not lists of letters. That is, ['a'] will not be found in "banana". Fix: remove list()
  • The check for found needs to be unindented so it runs after the for-loop is complete.
  • Inside found block, add done = True so new game can start
  • The check for done needs to be unindented so it runs after both checks for Win and Loss

The corrected code follows.

def play(done):
    clear()
    secret_word = random.choice(words)
    bad_guesses = []
    good_guesses = []

    while True:
        draw(bad_guesses, good_guesses, secret_word)
        guess = get_guess(bad_guesses, good_guesses)

        if guess in secret_word:
            good_guesses.append(guess)
            found = True
            for letter in secret_word:
                # Fixed: removed list() wrapper from letter
                if letter not in good_guesses:
                    found = False
            # Fixed: unindent check for 'found' so check is made after
            # for loop ends
            if found:
                print("You Win!")
                print("The secret word was {}".format(secret_word))
                # Fixed: added setting 'done'
                done = True
        else:
            bad_guesses.append(guess)
            if len(bad_guesses) == 7:
                draw(bad_guesses, good_guesses, secret_word)
                print("You lost!")
                print("The secret word was {}".format(secret_word))
                done = True
        # Fixed: unindent check for 'done' so check is made after
        # good (win) / bad (loss) guess determination.
        if done:
            play_again = input("Play again? Y/n ".lower())
            if play_again != 'n':
                return play(done=False)
            else:
                sys.exit()
Frederik Andersen
Frederik Andersen
10,012 Points
Frederik Andersen
Frederik Andersen
10,012 Points

Thanks alot, Chris! Now i can continue my course :)