Introduction to Programming
Projects
Here are some project ideas for your very first independent project.
You can choose one of these, or come up with something of your own!
Easy
- Guessing Game 2
Enhance the guessing game with (choose some of these):
- Colors
- The ability to play more than once
- The computer keeps score of how many times you've won
- A menu at the beginning that asks whether you want an easy medium or hard game
(this changes the maximum random number).
- A betting system ("How much do you want to bet you can guess my number in 5 tries?").
The computer keeps track of your money.
- Calculator
Have the user enter a number, then select an operation from a menu
(add, subtract, multiply, divide, exponent, etc.), then have them enter another number.
The computer does the calculation and reports the result, then asks for another operation,
and so on. How many operations can you put on that menu? Look at a real calculator for ideas.
Can you figure out how to implement a "memory" feature, like those found on many
simple calculators?
Medium
- Tic Tac Toe
Write a tic-tac-toe game where X and O take turns selecting squares.
You must detect when either X or O wins, or if the board is full (cat's game). You also can't let them
choose a square that is already filled.
- Adventure Game 2
Add more rooms to the adventure game example. There should be
at least a dozen rooms, each with their own description. Try to get the user lost! Be sure to test your
game to make sure all the rooms are properly connected up (if you go back through the door you just
came through, you should be back in the room you just came from).
Hard
- Adventure Game 3
Add more rooms to the adventure game, and also add some of these:
- Items you can pick up and use.
- Gold hidden in some rooms. When you get out, your score is how much gold you found.
- Monsters that attack you if you enter the wrong room
(the player loses hit points and dies if the hit points reach zero).
- People who tell you things if you talk to them
(this can be really simple, like if you type "talk man" then the man tells you what he knows).
- Add your own ideas!
- Checkers
Write a checkers game for two humans to play against each other.
You'll have to think of a way for the players to tell the computer which piece to move, where to
move it, and then have the computer figure out if the move is legal. Don't forget to check
for win conditions!