What is this project about?

This is a demonstration project used to teach programming by iteratively building a simple phrase-guessing game from scratch using the P5.js libraries.

Who is this project for?

Students who are being introduced to these computer programming concepts:

• variables
• arrays
• loops
• classes

Game design and psuedocode

Overview

• There are n phrases to choose from
• The game ends when all the phrases have been played
• Phrases are choosen at random in each round (level), without repeating
• Phrases can be a word, phrase, equation
• One player only
• Player guesses one letter/character at a time
• Player starts with k lives per level/puzzle
• A life is lost everytime an incorrect character is guessed
• When all lives are lost, the level is considered unsuccessful and the game moves to the next puzzle

Scoring

• A per-character score is awarded to each correct letter/character guessed
• A per-character score is deducted from the score for each incorrect letter/character guessed
• When a level is unsuccessful, the score is reset to zero
• Player can spin for a new (random) per-character score before each guess

How to play the game

Players try to guess the hidden phrase by guessing one letter/character at a time by typing the character on the keyboard. Special characters and their functions:

• F2 - Restart the game
• F4 - Spin for points

Features

• Basic phrase guessing, revealing correct guesses
• Game over state
  • End game when too many penalties
• Levels scheme
  • Rewards for points milestones
• Scoring/points scheme
• Points selection scheme
• Sound effects
• Penalties scheme
  • Unlucky spin penalties
• Game modes
  • General mode
  • Grade One mode
  • Unlockable hidden mode
  • Multi-player mode
• Touchscreen-only support