You’re sitting in a room with your friend. They say, “I’m thinking of a number between 1 and 10. You have 3 chances to guess it!”

Sound familiar? Yep, that’s a classic guessing game—and today, we’re going to turn it into Python code you can actually run and play with your friends or students!

By the end of this blog lesson, you’ll understand:

  • How to use Python’s random module
  • How to collect and validate user input
  • How to use if, elif, and else to make decisions
  • How to use loops to repeat actions
  • How to organize code into functions

🧪 Step-by-Step Breakdown: What’s Happening in the Code?

Here’s the complete game we’ll break down, then we’ll walk through each part.

import random

def play_game():
    """This function contains the entire game logic."""
    # The computer chooses a random number between 1 and 10.
    secret_number = random.randint(1, 10)

    # The game tells the player what to do.
    print("I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10.")
    print("Can you guess what it is?")

    # This variable will keep track of the number of guesses.
    guesses_taken = 0
    guess = None

    # This is the main part of the game. It will keep running
    # until the player guesses the correct number or runs out of tries.
    while guesses_taken < 3: # Let's give them 3 tries.
        try:
            guess = int(input("Take a guess: "))
            guesses_taken = guesses_taken + 1

            if guess < secret_number:
                print("Your guess is too low.")
            elif guess > secret_number:
                print("Your guess is too high.")
            else:
                # If the guess is correct, we break out of the loop.
                break
        except ValueError:
            print("That's not a number! Please try again.")

    # After the loop is over, we check to see if the player won.
    if guess == secret_number:
        print(f"Good job! You guessed my number in {guesses_taken} tries!")
    else:
        print(f"Oops! The number I was thinking of was {secret_number}.")

# This is the main loop that asks the player to play again.
while True:
    play_game()
    
    # Ask the player if they want to play again.
    play_again = input("Do you want to play again? (yes/no): ")
    if play_again.lower() != 'yes':
        print("Thanks for playing! Goodbye!")
        break

🔍 Let’s Decode the Game Logic

🧊 Step 1: The Game Picks a Secret Number

secret_number = random.randint(1, 10)

We use the random module to pick a number between 1 and 10. This makes sure it’s a surprise each time!

🎯 Step 2: User Tries to Guess (Up to 3 Tries)

while guesses_taken < 3:

We use a while loop to allow the player to guess up to 3 times.

Inside the loop, we collect input with:

guess = int(input("Take a guess: "))

We also use try and except to make sure the user enters a number. If they type something like "apple", the game says:

“That’s not a number! Please try again.”

This prevents the game from crashing.

🧠 Step 3: Comparing the Guess

if guess < secret_number:
    print("Your guess is too low.")
elif guess > secret_number:
    print("Your guess is too high.")
else:
    break

Using conditional statements, we give the player feedback. If they get it right, we break out of the loop with break.

🏆 Step 4: Game Over – Win or Lose?

After the guessing loop ends, we check:

if guess == secret_number:
    print(f"Good job! You guessed my number in {guesses_taken} tries!")
else:
    print(f"Oops! The number I was thinking of was {secret_number}.")

They either guessed correctly or used all 3 tries.

🔁 Step 5: Ask to Play Again

After one round ends, we ask:

play_again = input("Do you want to play again? (Yes/No): ")

If the player says anything other than "yes" or "y", the game ends with:

print("Thanks for playing! Goodbye!")

🧪 Practice Time! Review Questions

  1. What Python module is used to generate random numbers?
  2. Why do we use try and except around the input() call?
  3. What happens if the user guesses the correct number?
  4. How does the game limit the user to only 3 guesses?
  5. What condition ends the game’s replay loop?
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