CodeLudo 🔥 Daily

Project: Number Guessing Game

Python 3.14 · ✓ verified by execution on 2026-07-22

Building a Real Program

It is time to put everything you have learned together! You are going to build a classic Number Guessing Game. When building a larger program, we use program decomposition—breaking the problem down into smaller, solvable pieces.

Instead of writing everything at once, we start by getting just one part working. Let’s make sure we can convert user input to an integer properly.

python 
guess = int('50')
if guess == 50:
    print('Match')
Output 
Match

The Game Logic

The core logic of our game requires comparing the player’s guess to a secret number. Before we worry about generating a random number, we can hardcode the secret. This guarantees we know the answer while we test our logic using if, elif, and else.

python 
secret = 10
guess = 5
if guess != secret:
    print('Not equal')
Output 
Not equal

Let’s test our feedback system with a hardcoded secret and a hardcoded guess:

python 
secret = 42
guess = 42
attempts = 1

if guess < secret:
    print('Too low')
elif guess > secret:
    print('Too high')
else:
    print(f'Correct in {attempts} attempts!')
Output 
Correct in 1 attempts!

The Game Loop

A game needs to keep asking for guesses until the player wins. The while statement is used for repeated execution as long as an expression is true. We can use while True to create an infinite loop, and then use a break statement to exit the loop when the game is won. The break statement breaks out of the innermost enclosing loop.

Let’s visualize how a break statement interrupts a loop:

python · visualize 
attempts = 0
while True:
    attempts += 1
    if attempts == 3:
        break
print(attempts)

Putting it all Together

Now we combine our loop, our feedback logic, and our input() function. If the prompt argument is present in input(), it is written to standard output.

Try running the complete game right here! The secret number is currently hardcoded to 42.

python 
secret = 42
attempts = 0

print("Welcome to the Number Guessing Game! The secret is 42.")

while True:
    attempts += 1
    guess_str = input("Enter your guess: ")
    guess = int(guess_str)
    
    if guess < secret:
        print('Too low')
    elif guess > secret:
        print('Too high')
    else:
        print(f'Correct in {attempts} attempts!')
        break
This example raises an error (on purpose) 
EOFError

Check yourself

Why should you build a game with a hardcoded secret number first, before adding randomness?

Reveal answer

It allows you to decompose the program and test the core logic reliably. — Program decomposition means breaking a problem down. Testing logic with a known secret makes debugging much easier.

What does the `break` statement do?

Reveal answer

It breaks out of the innermost enclosing for or while loop. — The break statement instantly exits the loop it is placed in, which is perfect for ending a game when the user wins.

What happens if a user types text when input() expects a number to be converted to an integer?

Reveal answer

The int() function raises a ValueError. — int() cannot parse arbitrary text into a number and will raise a ValueError if it doesn't represent a valid number.

Challenges

Challenge 1 +50 XP

Write a while loop that increments the variable `count` until it reaches 5, then breaks and prints `count`.

python
  • Test 1 — expects "5\n"
Need a hint? (−25% XP)

Use a while True loop with an if statement checking if count is 5, and a break statement.

Show solution (0 XP) 
count = 0
while True:
    if count == 5:
        break
    count += 1
print(count)

Challenge 2 +50 XP

Fix the following guessing game logic so it prints 'Correct' when the guess matches the secret.

python
  • Test 1 (input: "7") — expects "Correct\n"
Need a hint? (−25% XP)

Add an else block at the end that prints 'Correct'.

Show solution (0 XP) 
secret = 7
guess = int(input())
if guess < secret:
    print('Too low')
elif guess > secret:
    print('Too high')
else:
    print('Correct')