Simple Keyboard Racing with Python

Let’s make a simple keyboard racing game using Python. In the game, the participant clicks a pair of keys in quick succession and the program shows the total time taken by the racer to cover the distance.

Rules:
As soon as you see ‘GO!’ on screen, start pressing the keys ‘z’ and ‘x’. A ‘*’ sign is shown for every meter covered. Pressing ‘z’ and ‘x’ once will be counted as 1 meter; targets is to cover 10 meters.

Modules Used:

msvcrt : Used to get keystroke as input for race
time : Used to calculate time taken to complete the race

Note that MSVCRT module can only function on a terminal window, not on a GUI program/IDE.

Below is the code:  

Python3

import msvcrt
import time

high_score = 17.78
name = "GeeksforGeeks"
while True:
    distance = int(0)
    print('\n--------------------------------------------------------------')
    print('\n\nWelcome to the 100m sprint, tap z and x rapidly to move!')
    print('* = 10m')
    print('\nCurrent record:' + str(high_score) + ' by: ' + name)
    print('\nPress enter to start')
    input()
    print('Ready...')
    time.sleep(1)
    print('GO!')

    start_time = time.time()
    while distance < 10:

        k1 = msvcrt.getch().decode('ASCII')
        if k1 == 'z':
            k2 = msvcrt.getch().decode('ASCII')
            if k2 == 'x':
                distance += 1
                if distance == 5:
                    print("* You're halfway there!")
                elif distance % 1 == 0:
                    print('*')

    fin_time = time.time() - start_time
    fin_time = round(fin_time, 2)

    print('Congratulations on successfully completing the race!')
    print('You took', fin_time, 'seconds to reach the finish line')

    if fin_time < high_score:
        print("Well done you've got a new high score ")
        name = input("Please enter your name : ")
        high_score = fin_time

Output:

Game Initiate

Game in Progress

Game Finished: New High Score