The Text Adventure

Two rooms, one key, one locked door — the biggest program in the folder, where a subprogram, a game loop, nested conditionals, and all four moves of Computational Thinking finally meet. This page is also the official launchpad for The Remix Project.

The program

def describe(room, has_key):
    if room == "hall":
        print("You are in a dusty hall. A locked door leads north.")
        if not has_key:
            print("A brass key glints on the floor.")
    else:
        print("The vault! Shelves of gold. The exit is south.")
 
room = "hall"
has_key = False
 
print("=== THE TWO-ROOM ADVENTURE ===")
print("Commands: take, north, south, quit")
 
command = ""
while command != "quit":
    describe(room, has_key)
    command = input("> ")
    if command == "take" and room == "hall" and not has_key:
        has_key = True
        print("You pocket the key.")
    elif command == "north" and room == "hall" and has_key:
        room = "vault"
        print("The key turns. The door swings open.")
    elif command == "north" and room == "hall":
        print("The door is locked. Something glints nearby...")
    elif command == "south" and room == "vault":
        room = "hall"
        print("Back to the dust.")
    elif command != "quit":
        print("You cannot do that here.")
 
print("Thanks for playing. Now remix it.")

Read it before you run it

Predict in writing first — then run the program and grade yourself.

• The entire world lives in room and has_key. Trace both values through the commands take, north, south — in that order.
• Two branches both begin command == "north" and room == "hall". Why must the has_key one come first — what breaks if they swap?
• Type take twice. Which part of which condition quietly refuses the second attempt?

Make it yours

1. One line. Put something better than gold in the vault.
2. A few lines. Add a secret xyzzy command with its own reply.
3. A real change. Add a third room past the vault, with something worth finding in it — and The Remix Project has already begun.

Curriculum connection

C1.4

determine the appropriate expressions and instructions to use in a programming statement, taking into account the order of operations

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C3.1

analyze existing code to understand the components and outcomes of the code

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C3.2

modify an existing program, or components of a program, to enable it to complete a different task

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