Py-Boom

Py-Boom is a fast-paced, 8-bit-style arcade game written in CircuitPython for the Adafruit Fruit Jam and other compatible display boards.

This game is a modern take on a classic "catcher" formula, featuring both a single-player mode against an AI and a competitive two-player versus mode.

Game Modes

At the title screen, you can select your game mode:

• 1-Player Mode: You control the Bucket (P1) at the bottom of the screen. An AI-controlled Bomber moves at the top, dropping bombs at an increasing rate. Your goal is to catch as many bombs as possible to survive the level.

• 2-Player Mode: Player 1 controls the Bucket, and Player 2 controls the Bomber. P1's goal is to survive, while P2's goal is to drop bombs strategically to make P1 miss.

How to Play

P1 (Bucket) - The Catcher

• Goal: Catch every bomb that is dropped. If you miss a bomb, you lose one of your buckets (lives). If you lose all three, the game is over.

• Winning: If you (P1) successfully catch all bombs in a level (e.g., 10 bombs in Level 1), you win the round and advance to the next, more difficult level.

P2 (Bomber) - The Attacker

• Goal: Make P1 miss! You have a limited number of bombs per level. Use your movement and timing to drop bombs where P1 isn't.

• Winning: If you (P2) successfully make P1 lose all three of their buckets, you win the game!

Controls

Other Controls

• Select Mode: On the title screen, press the 1 or 2 key.

• Restart Game: On the "Game Over" screen, press the R key to return to the title screen.

Required Files

To run this game, you will need the following files on your CircuitPython device:

• code.py: The main game code.

• The Fruit Jam OS library package. 

• pyboom.bmp: The title screen logo.

• bomb_icon.bmp: The bomb sprite icon (used in development).

Download at: Pyboom Git Hub

Background

This project was started on Microsoft Make Code for my Pygamer and was called Prison Break. With the introduction of the Fruit Jam I wanted to port this over to Circuit Python. The graphics in Make Code (MC) are saved in a TypeScript file so I had to copy the codes for the sprites over to my Circuit Python. I used the AI tools that are part of Visual Studio Code (VS) the develop functions to map the sprites maps into bitmaps and tile grids. I continued to use the AI tools to help convert the Python code from MC. I mostly used Gemini as I have 3 months of premium from purchasing my phone. Though there were times where Gemini would get stuck on fixing issues it was making so I would switch to the free tokens in VS and use Claude or Chat-GPT. I ran out of free tokens in VS and moved on to Gemini for versions 2 and 3 of the game. I am in the process of uploading my prompts that I still have access to (I lost my VS conversations :( ) and hope to have them done in the next week. I also hope to get controllers setup and maybe make paddle controllers in the future.

I found this a fun project to learn Circuit Python and coding with AI. I'm still learning the concepts of using classes and learned a lot while looking at the errors the AI was coming up with.