Building a Simple Game with Pygame

Here’s a step-by-step guide to Building a Simple Game with Pygame .

Step 1: Install Pygame

First, ensure you have Pygame installed. Run:

pip install pygame

Check the installation:

import pygame
print(pygame.__version__)

Step 2: Set Up the Game Window

Create a basic game window with width, height, and a game loop.

import pygame

# Initialize pygame
pygame.init()

# Set up display
WIDTH, HEIGHT = 800, 600
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((WIDTH, HEIGHT))
pygame.display.set_caption("Simple Pygame Game")

# Main game loop
running = True
while running:
    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
            running = False

# Quit pygame
pygame.quit()

✔ Creates a game window
✔ Listens for the close event

Step 3: Add a Player (Character)

Load an image for the player and display it.

# Load player image
player_img = pygame.image.load("player.png")  # Add an image file in the same folder
player_x, player_y = 100, 100  # Initial position

while running:
    screen.fill((255, 255, 255))  # Clear the screen

    # Draw player
    screen.blit(player_img, (player_x, player_y))

    pygame.display.flip()  # Refresh screen

✔ Loads and displays a player sprite
✔ Clears the screen before redrawing

Step 4: Move the Player

Use arrow keys to move the player.

speed = 5  # Player speed

while running:
    screen.fill((255, 255, 255))  # Clear screen

    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
            running = False

    # Get key presses
    keys = pygame.key.get_pressed()
    if keys[pygame.K_LEFT]: player_x -= speed
    if keys[pygame.K_RIGHT]: player_x += speed
    if keys[pygame.K_UP]: player_y -= speed
    if keys[pygame.K_DOWN]: player_y += speed

    screen.blit(player_img, (player_x, player_y))
    pygame.display.flip()

✔ Moves the player using arrow keys

Step 5: Add an Enemy

Let’s add an enemy that moves left and right.

enemy_img = pygame.image.load("enemy.png")
enemy_x, enemy_y = 400, 300
enemy_speed = 3

while running:
    screen.fill((255, 255, 255))

    # Enemy movement
    enemy_x += enemy_speed
    if enemy_x >= WIDTH - 50 or enemy_x <= 0:
        enemy_speed *= -1  # Change direction

    screen.blit(enemy_img, (enemy_x, enemy_y))
    screen.blit(player_img, (player_x, player_y))
    pygame.display.flip()

✔ Adds an enemy that moves left and right

Step 6: Collision Detection

Detect if the player touches the enemy.

# Collision detection
player_rect = pygame.Rect(player_x, player_y, 50, 50)
enemy_rect = pygame.Rect(enemy_x, enemy_y, 50, 50)

if player_rect.colliderect(enemy_rect):
    print("Game Over")
    running = False

✔ Ends the game when the player collides with the enemy

Step 7: Add Score & Display Text

Keep track of the score and display it.

font = pygame.font.Font(None, 36)  # Load font
score = 0

while running:
    screen.fill((255, 255, 255))

    score_text = font.render(f"Score: {score}", True, (0, 0, 0))
    screen.blit(score_text, (10, 10))

    screen.blit(player_img, (player_x, player_y))
    screen.blit(enemy_img, (enemy_x, enemy_y))
    pygame.display.flip()

✔ Displays the score at the top-left

Step 8: Winning and Losing Conditions

Let’s add a win condition and restart on loss.

if player_x > WIDTH - 50:  # Reached the right side
    print("You Win!")
    running = False

if player_rect.colliderect(enemy_rect):  # Collided with enemy
    print("Game Over")
    running = False

✔ Ends the game if the player wins or loses

Step 9: Add Background Music & Sound Effects

Load and play background music and effects.

pygame.mixer.init()
pygame.mixer.music.load("background.mp3")
pygame.mixer.music.play(-1)  # Loop indefinitely

jump_sound = pygame.mixer.Sound("jump.wav")

if event.type == pygame.KEYDOWN:
    if event.key == pygame.K_SPACE:
        jump_sound.play()  # Play jump sound

✔ Plays music and jump sound effects

Final Game Code (Complete)

Here’s a full playable version.

import pygame

# Initialize Pygame
pygame.init()

# Screen settings
WIDTH, HEIGHT = 800, 600
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((WIDTH, HEIGHT))
pygame.display.set_caption("Simple Game")

# Load images
player_img = pygame.image.load("player.png")
enemy_img = pygame.image.load("enemy.png")

# Player attributes
player_x, player_y = 100, 500
speed = 5

# Enemy attributes
enemy_x, enemy_y = 400, 500
enemy_speed = 3

# Score
font = pygame.font.Font(None, 36)
score = 0

# Game loop
running = True
while running:
    screen.fill((255, 255, 255))

    # Event handling
    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
            running = False

    # Player movement
    keys = pygame.key.get_pressed()
    if keys[pygame.K_LEFT]: player_x -= speed
    if keys[pygame.K_RIGHT]: player_x += speed

    # Enemy movement
    enemy_x += enemy_speed
    if enemy_x >= WIDTH - 50 or enemy_x <= 0:
        enemy_speed *= -1  # Reverse direction

    # Collision detection
    player_rect = pygame.Rect(player_x, player_y, 50, 50)
    enemy_rect = pygame.Rect(enemy_x, enemy_y, 50, 50)

    if player_rect.colliderect(enemy_rect):
        print("Game Over")
        running = False

    # Display score
    score_text = font.render(f"Score: {score}", True, (0, 0, 0))
    screen.blit(score_text, (10, 10))

    # Draw player and enemy
    screen.blit(player_img, (player_x, player_y))
    screen.blit(enemy_img, (enemy_x, enemy_y))

    pygame.display.flip()  # Refresh screen

pygame.quit()

✔ Full playable game with movement, enemy, score, and collision detection