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

Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points
Posted by Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points

Repeating Spaces in Hangman Game

Here is my code:

import random

words = [
    "apple"
    "banana"
    "orange"
    "coconut"
    "strawberry"
    "lime"
    "grapefruit"
    "lemon"
    "blueberry"
    "melon"
]    

while True:
    start = input("Press any key to start, or enter 'q' to quit.")
    if start.lower() == "q":
        break

    secret_word = random.choice(words)
    bad_guesses = []
    good_guesses = []

    while len(bad_guesses) < 7 and len(good_guesses) != len(list(secret_word)):
        for letter in secret_word:
            if letter in good_guesses:
                print(letter, end='')
            else:
                print('_', end='')

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

        guess = input("Guess a letter: ").lower()

        if len(guess) != 1:
            print("You can only guess a single letter a time!")
            continue
        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!")
            continue

        if guess in secret_word:
            good_guesses.append(guess)
            if len(good_guesses) == len(list(secret_word)):
                print("You win! The word was {}.".format(secret_word))
                break

        else:
            bad_guesses.append(guess)
    else:
        print("You didn't guess the word. My secret word was {}.".format(secret_word))

And here is an example of what I get:

You can only guess a single letter a time!
l________________________l_______ll____
Strikes: 0/7

Why are so many underscores appearing?

4 Answers

Evan Demaris
Evan Demaris
64,262 Points
Evan Demaris
Evan Demaris
64,262 Points

Ah, I was spot checking before. Looking through the rest of the code, you've got a problematic section of while that's also nearly repeated in the later if block;

len(good_guesses) != len(list(secret_word))

This doesn't take into account having repeat letters in your secret word; for example, 'banana' would require 6 correct guesses even though it should only require 3 correct guesses.

Also, you skipped the 'continue' for the clause;

elif guess in bad_guesses or guess in good_guesses:
            print("You've already guessed that letter!")

which means that it will still append the guess to good or bad guesses, even if you've already guessed it before. So with your code as-is (with some commas), you could win, but you'd need to re-guess a letter you'd already guessed until you'd accounted for every repeating character in secret_word.

Evan Demaris
Evan Demaris
64,262 Points
Evan Demaris
Evan Demaris
64,262 Points

Hi Gary,

Because you didn't include any commas in your words list, the entire list is being read as a single string.

Hope that helps!

Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points
Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points

Hi Evan,

Thank you...but now the code won't tell me when I've guessed the word. It just keeps asking for more letters and only breaks when I use up my chances with the wrong letters..?

Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points
Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points

Thanks for getting back so quickly, Evan!

I caught the missing "continue"...but I only had to guess a letter once and it would fill in all throughout the blank spaces where it should.

Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points
Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points

It's still not going to either:

        if len(good_guesses) == len(list(secret_word)):
            print("You win! The word was {}.".format(secret_word))
            break

or:

else:
    print("You didn't guess the word. My secret word was {}.".format(secret_word))

when either the appended string matches the secret word or all seven guesses are used up.

Evan Demaris
Evan Demaris
64,262 Points

Hi Gary,

You've definitely got a correct for block going on the underscores, but that doesn't impact the while statement above it or the if block below it.

Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points
Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points

How do I correct? I was trying to follow along with the lesson (and still creating bugs unwittingly).

Right now it's only giving me the message if I run out of attempts.

Evan Demaris
Evan Demaris
64,262 Points

I believe your code is now functioning as expected at this point in the lesson, so from here you'd either want to continue updating with the lesson, or diverge onto your own path and write the program out so that it functions in the way you want it to.