Starting Game Development with Pygame

Dec 7, 2024

Posted by:

P C Boey

Learn how to develop games in Python using Pygame

Ever dreamed of developing the next blockbuster game or just want to build something for fun, but thought it was too intimidating? Well, Python's simplicity and the tools available from Pygame make it the perfect place to start.

In this blog, we’ll learn how to make a simple yet engaging game: "Catch the Falling Apples.

Why This Game?

"Catch the Falling Apples" is a great beginner project because it teaches core game development concepts:

Graphics: Drawing shapes for the basket and apples.
Collision Detection: Checking if the basket catches the apple.
Game Logic: Handling scoring and game over conditions.

Why Pygame?

Pygame is a Python library that provides functions to create 2D games. It handles graphics, sounds, and inputs (keyboard/mouse), making it easier for you to focus on building the gameplay

Setting up Pygame

Before starting, install Pygame using pip:

pip install pygame

The Game: Catch the Falling Apples

In this game:

The player controls a basket at the bottom of the screen.
Apples fall from the top, and the player earns points by catching them.
If an apple hits the ground, it’s game over.

Building the game

The code for this game is in a file catch_apples.py

catch_apples.py
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84	import pygame import random # Initialize Pygame pygame.init() # Screen dimensions WIDTH, HEIGHT = 800, 600 screen = pygame.display.set_mode((WIDTH, HEIGHT)) pygame.display.set_caption("Catch the Falling Apples") clock = pygame.time.Clock() # Colors WHITE = (255, 255, 255) RED = (255, 0, 0) BLUE = (0, 0, 255) # Basket dimensions basket_width, basket_height = 100, 20 # Apple dimensions apple_radius = 15 # Set up the basket and falling apples # Basket basket_x = WIDTH // 2 - basket_width // 2 basket_y = HEIGHT - 50 basket_speed = 10 # Apples apple_x = random.randint(0, WIDTH - apple_radius) apple_y = -apple_radius apple_speed = 5 # Score score = 0 font = pygame.font.Font(None, 36) # Create the game's main loop to handle logic, drawing and events running = True while running: screen.fill(WHITE) # Event handling for event in pygame.event.get(): if event.type == pygame.QUIT: running = False # Move basket keys = pygame.key.get_pressed() if keys[pygame.K_LEFT] and basket_x > 0: basket_x -= basket_speed if keys[pygame.K_RIGHT] and basket_x < WIDTH - basket_width: basket_x += basket_speed # Move apple apple_y += apple_speed if apple_y > HEIGHT: print("Game Over!") running = False # Check collision if ( apple_y + apple_radius > basket_y and basket_x < apple_x < basket_x + basket_width ): score += 1 apple_y = -apple_radius apple_x = random.randint(0, WIDTH - apple_radius) # Draw basket pygame.draw.rect(screen, BLUE, (basket_x, basket_y, basket_width, basket_height)) # Draw apple pygame.draw.circle(screen, RED, (apple_x, apple_y), apple_radius) # Draw score score_text = font.render(f"Score: {score}", True, (0, 0, 0)) screen.blit(score_text, (10, 10)) pygame.display.flip() clock.tick(30) pygame.quit()

catch_apples.py

import pygame
import random

# Initialize Pygame
pygame.init()

# Screen dimensions
WIDTH, HEIGHT = 800, 600
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((WIDTH, HEIGHT))
pygame.display.set_caption("Catch the Falling Apples")
clock = pygame.time.Clock()

# Colors
WHITE = (255, 255, 255)
RED = (255, 0, 0)
BLUE = (0, 0, 255)

# Basket dimensions
basket_width, basket_height = 100, 20

# Apple dimensions
apple_radius = 15

# Set up the basket and falling apples
# Basket
basket_x = WIDTH // 2 - basket_width // 2
basket_y = HEIGHT - 50
basket_speed = 10

# Apples
apple_x = random.randint(0, WIDTH - apple_radius)
apple_y = -apple_radius
apple_speed = 5

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

# Create the game's main loop to handle logic, drawing and events
running = True
while running:
    screen.fill(WHITE)

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

    # Move basket
    keys = pygame.key.get_pressed()
    if keys[pygame.K_LEFT] and basket_x > 0:
        basket_x -= basket_speed
    if keys[pygame.K_RIGHT] and basket_x < WIDTH - basket_width:
        basket_x += basket_speed

    # Move apple
    apple_y += apple_speed
    if apple_y > HEIGHT:
        print("Game Over!")
        running = False

    # Check collision
    if (
        apple_y + apple_radius > basket_y
        and basket_x < apple_x < basket_x + basket_width
    ):
        score += 1
        apple_y = -apple_radius
        apple_x = random.randint(0, WIDTH - apple_radius)

    # Draw basket
    pygame.draw.rect(screen, BLUE, (basket_x, basket_y, basket_width, basket_height))

    # Draw apple
    pygame.draw.circle(screen, RED, (apple_x, apple_y), apple_radius)

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

    pygame.display.flip()
    clock.tick(30)

pygame.quit()

Starting Game Development with Pygame

Learn how to develop games in Python using Pygame

Why This Game?

Why Pygame?

Setting up Pygame

The Game: Catch the Falling Apples

Building the game

Running the Game

Expanding the Game

Ready to Create?

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