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Python Program for a Word Scramble Game

Beginner · Games and random numbers

In a word scramble game the letters of a word are mixed up, and the player has to work out the original word. This program scrambles each word with the random module, checks a set of sample guesses, and keeps score.

Program

word_scramble.py
import random
words = ["python", "school", "garden", "planet", "rocket"]
guesses = ["python", "scholo", "garden", "plane", "rocket"] # the player's answers
# To play for real: guess = input("Unscramble it: ").lower()
score = 0
for i in range(len(words)):
word = words[i]
letters = list(word)
random.shuffle(letters)
scrambled = "".join(letters)
while scrambled == word: # never show the word unscrambled
random.shuffle(letters)
scrambled = "".join(letters)
print(f"Word {i + 1}: {scrambled.upper()} guess: {guesses[i]}", end=" ")
if guesses[i] == word:
print("Correct!")
score += 1
else:
print("Wrong, it was", word)
print("Score:", score, "out of", len(words))
Output
Word 1: PYNOTH   guess: python   Correct!
Word 2: OSOHCL   guess: scholo   Wrong, it was school
Word 3: NAEDRG   guess: garden   Correct!
Word 4: NTELPA   guess: plane   Wrong, it was planet
Word 5: TKROEC   guess: rocket   Correct!
Score: 3 out of 5

How it works

  1. list(word) splits the word into a list of letters, because random.shuffle() can mix up a list but not a string.
  2. "".join(letters) glues the shuffled letters back into a string.
  3. The while loop shuffles again if the letters happen to land back in the original order.
  4. Each guess is compared with the real word, and score counts the correct ones.
  5. The scrambled letters change on every run, but the score is always 3 out of 5, since the guesses are fixed.

Another way to write it

Using random.sample()

Using random.sample()
import random
word = "computer"
scrambled = "".join(random.sample(word, len(word)))
print("Scrambled:", scrambled)
print("Same letters as the word?", sorted(scrambled) == sorted(word))
Output
Scrambled: mcopuert
Same letters as the word? True

random.sample(word, len(word)) returns all the letters of the string in a random order in one step, and comparing the sorted letters shows that only their order changed.

Try it yourself

After a wrong guess, give a hint by printing the first letter of the word.

Edit the program above and press Run, or open it in the full editor to save it and share it. To watch it run line by line, open it in the visualizer.

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