A text adventure

The problem

Build a small game in which the player moves between rooms, picks up items and has to solve a simple goal, all through typed commands.

Requirements

• Rooms are stored as data, with descriptions, exits and items
• Commands include go, take, look and inventory
• A Player class holds the current room and the items carried
• Unknown commands and impossible moves give a helpful reply
• The game can be won, and it says so when that happens
• A new room can be added by changing only the data

Technologies

• Python
• Classes
• Dictionaries
• Text processing
• Exceptions

Step by step

1. Draw a map of four or five rooms on paper.
2. Write the rooms as a dictionary, from room name to its details.
3. Write a Player class with methods for moving and taking items.
4. Write a function that splits a typed line into a verb and a noun.
5. Use a dictionary from verbs to functions to handle each command.
6. Add the winning condition, and check it after each command.
7. Test every exit, and try impossible commands on purpose.

Expected result

A complete small game that a friend can play, in which the world is described by data rather than by code.

How it is evaluated

• Every exit leads where the data says it should
• The game can be completed
• Bad input never crashes the game
• Adding a room needs no change to the code

Ways to improve it

• Add locked doors that need a key
• Add a save and load feature using json
• Add a score based on the number of moves