Try the IncrediCoders Games - IncrediCoders/Python1 GitHub Wiki
Paul Python added this page on July 29, 2025
You can try out the IncrediCoders games and programs (Levels 1-7 and all 14 challenges), in order to see what they're like, before you build them (or while you're still in progress of developing your programs).
On this page:
The process of creating and opening Python EXE files includes a lot of unexpected and dynamic obstacles, and these requirements and obstacles are constantly changing. Because some EXE files can be security risks, it's not easy to create EXE files or download them in a safe way. We hope that these processes will become simpler in the future (but still just as safe). Because of that, there are a few unusual steps to take to try out the games from our book, to ensure you can download and safely run the EXE files for these games.
We recommend you open the files using the following steps:
- Open the download pages in a new tab or window (middle-click the link or right-click the link and then click Open link in new tab).
- When the OneDrive page opens, click the Download button.
- Because the file is an EXE file:
- On the Microsoft Edge browser, when you download an EXE file, you might need to choose Options > Keep and Show more (the Delete arrow) > Keep anyway from your browser's control menu. We haven't seen this issue with Chrome and other browsers.
- Sometimes with Microsoft Defender (like when you open an EXE file from Chrome), you might see a message that says, "Windows protected your PC." Click More info and Run anyway.
Follow these steps to download the programs and try them out:
- Download the EXE applications to your computer. (The links are above.)
- You will see an EXE file with the level name (such as "TurtleMap_Solution" for the Windows version of the Level 1 program, "Turtle Map").
- Open the EXE file to run/play the game.
NOTE: In the Microsoft Edge browser, you may see a warning and have to click the option "Keep" and then "Show More" > "Keep anyway", in order to begin downloading the file. If a Microsoft Defender screen appears and says, "Windows protected your PC", click "More info" and "Run anyway". This is a limitation with PyInstaller.
For Mac and other operating systems (such as Linux), we recommend that you directly execute your games using a Terminal on Mac. See Direct Execution below.
(You can also run all the files through Visual Studio Code and other IDEs on Mac computers.)
Level 2 is available online: Level 2: Class Introductions
If you want to directly execute the Incredicoders game you can use Terminal on Mac or Command Prompt on Windows to run the games.
After you've downloaded and unzipped the files from this GitHub, open up a Terminal/Command Prompt window. In this case I'm on a Mac and have opened a Terminal window as shown below:
From here, navigate to where you've unzipped and saved your IncrediCoders files. From this directory, you can pick which level and solution file that you want to run. I've chosen Level 1 as my example.
In your Terminal window, type:
cd Incredicoders/Python1/Solutions/Level1
And then press Enter. This opens the directory/folder. Here's how it looks for me:
To run the game, type this command:
python TurtleMap_Solution.py
And then press Enter. (Keep in mind I'm running the first level. If you're running a different level, you'll need to insert the correct name of the file that you're trying to run.)
Here's how that looks for me:
Congratulations! You have now run the IncrediCoders game directly!
Now we'll show you how to play all the games that you'll build in the book. We also have instructions for when you build the versions with the Challenges!
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There are no instructions! You tell the turtle what to do in the code. The program moves the turtle along the path you chose, in the TurtleMap.py file.
Things to look out for when you run the program:
- Do you see the turtle fly into place in the lower right corner?
- Can you follow along with the turtle, as it moves from the Turtle house to IncrediCoders Academy?
- Do you see Grafika's house? It's the house on the turtle's back!
- Do you see Syntax Turtle? He's flying to school on his hoverboard!
- Do you see Intelli-Scents walking out of her time machine? She's outside the IncrediCoders Academy!
There are no instructions for Challenge 1! The turtle takes an alternate route with your code.
There are no instructions for Challenge 2! In this challenge, the turtle repeats its path in a loop in your code, going back and forth to the school, back to the Turtle House, and back to the school (in five full loops)!
Check out Syntax Turtle on the map! Just like in the book, he's taking off on his hover board to fly to school! You can see Intelli-Scents on the map as well! She's to the right of the school and down a little (southeast). She's standing just outside of her time machine, which she took to school! It's the same time machine that's on the cover of "The Time Machine" book by H.G. Gills. You can see that cover in the background of Intelli-Scents' page in the Level 2 program that you'll build (or already did build). You'll also find a full image of the book cover in the Level 2 Rewards, once you complete Level 2! The time machine is also designed and drawn on the whiteboard behind Intelli-Scents in the Level 2 program! And she mentions the book in her introduction. The map art is by Grace Howard, Sophia Abouzeid, and Brenna Johnson.
There are currently no known issues with the three Level 1 versions.
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In this program, you press keys on your keyboard to switch to different students at IncrediCoders Academy! Learn more about the students, including their names, where they live, and some of their favorite things.
NOTE: Be sure to pay attention to what you read, because you're going to be quizzed on it in Level 3, Classroom Quiz!
Press the following keys to switch to the different characters:
- 1 - Annie Conda
- 2 - Bayo Wolf
- 3 - Grafika Turtle
- 4 - Intelli-Scents
- 5 - Java Lynn
- 6 - Captain Javo
- 7 - Jitter Bug
- 8 - Paul Python
- 9 - Quackintosh
- Q - SideWinder
- W - Syntax Turtle
Later, in Level 2: Challenge 1, you'll add in two more characters to the program! The version you download here doesn't have those characters yet (it's called a challenge for a reason!). :)
Here are the characters (and their keyboard keys) that you'll add in for Challenge 1:
- E - Ram & Rom
- R - Amphib Ian
You can download the Level 2, Challenge 1 program to try it out, with the new characters and pages!
In Challenge 2, instead of numbers, you'll use the Left and Right arrow keys to switch between your characters. Download the Level 2, Challenge 2 program to try it out.
This is a long one! Annie Conda's background has a poster of Justin Timbersnake. We first see Justin in the book on Page 12, right before Level 2, when Paul empties out the contents of his backpack and shows us his IncrediCard for Justin Timbersnake! You'll also find a version of the Timbersnake poster in the book, rolled up in Annie's locker (Page 36), and as she shows it to Grafika Turtle on Page 38. It's a signed copy that she got from an *In-Sink concert! You can find a bigger image of the poster in the Level 2 Rewards, when you complete Level 2! You'll also find that Justin has his own IncrediCard in Level 7! And Annie drew herself on the chalkboard! You can catch some of Annie's speech in the book on Page 16. Annie says she's from Sanfran-Hissco. She has a picture of the Sanfran-Hissco Golden Snake Bridge in her locker on Page 36! She mentions she's partial to the musician, Hissy Elliott. You can find a Hissy CD (you can ask your parents what a CD is) in the left side of the top shelf of her locker on Page 36. And she says that her favorite Pigxar movie is Rattle-touille. She has a Rattle-touille mini-poster in her locker (Page 36 again) and an awesome Pigxar sticker on the inside of her locker! You can also see these on Page 38. She says her favorite games are trivia games and word puzzles (and you can also find a book for each of those in her locker). Bayo Wolf has a poster of Grendel in his background! Grendel is the name of his Mega Mech that he uses in that game! You'll also see a drawing of his Hrunting sword on the blackboard behind him. (A blackboard is what schools had before whiteboards. You use chalk to write on it.) You can find his Hrunting blade in the book, on Pages 13-14, 26-27, 37-39, 47, and 71. He also mentions it on Page 72. Check out his introduction for some of his favorite movies (like Dogfather, Jurassic Bark, and Citizen Canine) and actors (like Brad Pitbull, Howly Berry, and Sandra Bulldog). Grafika Turtle has a poster in her background of her favorite artist, Pablo Pigcasso. Pablo is in the book on Page 18, when Mrs. Scratcher shows an image of this program! Also, Grafika has a book called the "Art of Pigcasso" in her locker on Page 36. On the blackboard in Grafika's background, you'll see chalk drawings of her and her brother, Syntax. She also drew her friends' faces in chalk in her locker on Page 36. And she has a picture with her brother! In her introduction, she mentions her favorite movie, the Wizard of Paws. You can see a mini poster for Wizard of Paws in Grafika's locker (on Page 36 of the book). The movie stars Toto! Also in her introduction, she mentions how she and Syntax love card games. They team up to teach you how to make IncrediCards in Level 7! Their instructions start on Page 76. Also, in Grafika's locker on Page 36, you'll see a deck of the IncrediCoders cards! Intelli-Scents' background features a poster of the book, "The Time Machine" by H.G. Gills. You can find that time machine on whiteboard behind her, in the Level 1 program, Turtle Map (she's on the map), and the cover is in the Level 2 Rewards for completing the level! Her top films are Hack to the Future, Mission Impawsible with Eat'n Hunt, and Hair Spay! She likes the artist Vincent van Gopher and the neurologist, Digmund Freud! Java Lynn shops at Blooming Tails, reads Vanity Fur, and loves the Hairy Otter movies! Her favorite actors are Bill Furry and Scarlett Johamster. In the background, you'll find her favorite art, "Squirrel with the Acorn Earrings." On the blackboard, you'll see a drawing of Java Lynn's javelin! JL loves acorns in more than her art; you'll find acorns on her belt buckle and in the hilt of her javelin. Next up, Captain Javo has a poster in his background of his favorite action actor, Woodchuck Norris! Woodchuck's poster can be seen in the book on Page 39, in Mr. Mutt's classroom, on the bulletin board behind Ryan Gooseling and Java Lynn! Woodchuck Norris is also featured on an IncrediCard in the Level 7 game! And, of course, you can see a bigger image of the poster in the Level 2 Rewards when you complete the level! Captain Javo also has a drawing of his Javo super suit on the chalkboard behind him. He's from Indiana-pawlis, and he likes the movie Paws, the actor Will Ferret, and the musicians Kitty Purry and Britney Ears! Next is Jitter Bug from Ant-aheim, Cowlifornia! She's got a poster of Beeyonce behind her and some dance moves on the chalkboard. Her favorite movies are Mrs. Doubtspider and Twi-mite, and her favorite actors are Kristin Ear-Wiig and Molly Ringworm. Next is our hero of the book, Paul Python! He's got a poster in his background of the Mega Mechs mascot, Mecha Pig! We see Mecha Pig on a keychain in Paul's locker on Page 36, in a hallway poster on Page 38, and then Intelli-Scents brings the little robotic swine alive on Page 51 (using Grafika's Pixel Pen), and it returns on Page 70 (in the Level 6 Mega Mechs Award), in Level 7 in the background on Pages 74-75, and thanking you for coding on Page 85! On Paul's Class Introductions page, he has a Solid Snake drawing on the chalkboard (it's just a box), and he mentions that he's from Sea-Cattle, Washeepton. On Page 36 in the book, Paul's locker includes a photo of Sea-Cattle with a cow pattern on the Graze Needle. Of course, Paul's favorite game is Mega Mechs, because it's the game that got him the scholarship to go to IncrediCoders Academy, back on Pages 2-3 in Level 1. You can see Paul's love of Mega Mechs with the figure of his mech suit on Pages 12, 16, and 36. Also on Page 36, Paul's locker shows his love for Mega Mechs with the Mecha Pig keychain, a Mega Mechs logo mini-poster, a figure of Taran Tula's mech (back from Page 3), and a Marble comic called, "Mega Mechs Vol 1." (Also, you'll find Ed's book next to that one, "Learn to Program with Small Basic." Paul also loves the actor David Hisselhoff, who can be seen on Page 12 in Paul's tablet background, when he spills out the contents of his backpack. This same image of Hisselhoff is a mini poster that Paul holds up on Page 30 and is on the inside of Paul's locker on Page 36 (which is mostly covered by his word bubble). Paul agrees with Annie that Justin Timbersnake makes awesome music! They talk about this in the comic, but also on Page 36, you'll find that Paul has a copy of JT's CD, "Snake of the Woods." That brings us to Quackintosh from Bill-view, who has her favorite art in her background, "Son of Duck." She also has some apples on the chalkboard. She likes Audrey Honburn, Goose Willis, Swan Bon Jovi, Michael Quackson, and Ozzy Ostrich! Next is SB Turtle, who has some of his Shell Scout badges in his background, as well as a campfire guide on the blackboard. His top actresses are Shelly Long and Zooey Deshell. SideWinder's background features a poster of his favorite band, Nine-Inch Snails. You can also find this poster on two pages in the book: a larger print of the poster is on Page 26, and a small version of the poster is in SW's locker on Page 36. That's a popular poster! Plus, the Nine-Inch Snails are also listed as some of Jitter Bug's favorite musicians (also on her page in this Level 2 program, Class Introductions). SW's favorite game is SpaceWars, which is drawn on his chalkboard. In the book, you'll find the SpaceWars ships, Nocturn and Monarch, on Pages 12 (on Paul's tournament flyer), 36 (banner on the wall, the ship models in SW's locker, the same flyer, a mini poster on the inside of SW's locker door, and a Nocturn doodle on a sticky note), 38 (the banner again), 39 (on the chalkboard), 42 (the sprites for the game), and 48 (in the tournament)! SW's Class Introduction also mentions the movie Snakes on a Glider, and the actor, Sylvester Stallion. You can find a Sylvester Stallion sticker and a Snakes on a Plan mini poster in SW's locker on Page 36. Finally (or is it), Syntax Turtle has got a poster of Tony Hawk in his background and schematics of his hover board on the chalkboard. He likes Natalie Porkman and Lizardnardo Da Vinci. As a bonus in Challenges 2-3, we also have RAM and ROM, who have a poster of Lady Baa-Baa behind them. A Lady Baa-Baa poster is also in the book on Page 26, on the bulletin board in Mrs. Codala's classroom. RAM and ROM drew a processor on the board, and they like Maryl Sheep, Dustin Hoofman, and Eva Longhornia. Finally (for sure now), we have Amphib Ian from Croaklahoma City. His favorite artwork, "Mourning Son" by Edwart Hopper, is in his background (and on Page 16 in the book). He also drew himself as a DJ on the blackboard. Of course, he likes the singer, Demi Lovatoad, and the game, Froggy Road. You can also read most of his introduction on Page 16 in the book. He'll catch you on the flip flop! The art in this program is by Grace Howard.
Top bar is off the screen: On all versions of the program (the main version, Challenge 1, and Challenge 2), it could be possible (with some screen display settings) for the top bar to be off the top of the screen, so that you can't see the Minimize and Exit buttons. This is because of the large size of the program window and background image. If you see this issue, you should be able to drag the window down enough to see and use those buttons.
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This is your first game you make (since the first two aren't games)! You're given several questions that quiz you on different pieces of information on the characters that you learned in Level 2: Class Introductions.
After you read the question, decide what your answer is, and then click on that answer choice.
- If the answer is correct, there will be a pop-up with an encouraging message that says that you got the question right. Then it will move on to the next question.
- If the answer is incorrect, there will be a pop-up saying, "You may want to try again" or "Hmmm... that's not quite right". It will then move onto the next question.
There are 10 total questions each time that you play! Keep track of your score to see if you can keep improving or even get 10/10!
NOTE: Although the questions are the same, the answers are in a random order, to keep you on your toes!
After you finish the game, you'll need to exit and reopen it to play it again.
As an added Bonus Challenge, you can create your own quiz questions (and answers)! See Level 3: Bonus Challenge.
For this challenge, the score will be displayed at the end of the game. Try to get all the questions right! There are no other changes to the game in this challenge.
In this version, the game automatically closes when it's done showing the score.
For this challenge, there will also be no gameplay change. You will change the color of the answer selected to be either green or red, indicating whether you got the answer right or wrong.
Just like the main game, after you finish this quiz game, you'll need to exit and reopen it to play it again.
Mrs. Codala appears in this game to let you know if you got the answer right or wrong (and when the game is over). In the book on Pages 31 and 34, Annie is holding images of Mrs. Codala doing this (and then Mrs. Codala sneaks in on Page 33). The art in this game is by Trinity.
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On all three versions of the game (main version, Challenge 1, and Challenge 2), when you start the game, there sometimes is a 2-3 second delay before you can close the window or click the screen to start the game, when the screen says, "Click here to start."
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In the main game (not in Challenges 1 or 2), you can rapidly click an answer and "click through" to the answer in the next question. We left this bug in to fix it in Challenges 1 and 2, as part of the learning journey to show you how to fix bugs like this. You can check out Challenge 1 to learn more about the fix we made!
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This is a two-player game with two spaceships battling each other:
Player 1 Movement:
- W key - move up
- A key - move to the left
- S key - move down
- D key - move to the right
- Space button - shoot
Player 2 Movement:
- Up Arrow - move up
- Left Arrow- move to the left
- Down Arrow - move down
- Right Arrow - move to the right
- Enter key - shoot
Your goal is to shoot the other player's spaceship (with your respective shoot button), until they have lost all of their health. The amount of health can be seen at the top of each spaceship with the progress bar.
At the end there will be an animation saying either "Player 1 Wins" or "Player 2 Wins!"
Click Replay to start again!
NOTE: There is sound when your projectile hits the other ship! To add sound for when your projectiles fire, see Level 4: Challenge 1. And in Challenge 2, you'll add asteroids to the game, which you can shoot and hide behind! See Level 4: Challenge 2.
In this challenge, you'll hear a sound whenever you shoot your weapons! Each player has a different sound file for when they shoot, but it's the same sound in both files. For this challenge, we include a bonus challenge for you to change the sound files and make them different.
In this challenge, there will be asteroids that block each player's shots and movement. You can hide behind these asteroids, and they will block your opponent's shots!
In our code, we use collisions to determine whether or not our ship is touching an asteroid. If our code detects that we're touching an asteroid, we will not be able to move through it. That means your ship will stop moving when it runs into an asteroid. You can purposefully move quickly into an asteroid to stop your movement and surprise the other player.
The Player 1 ship is called Nocturn. Its name, design, and projectile (echo waves) are based on a bat. The Player 2 ship is called Monarch. Its name, design, and projectile (pollen) are based on a butterfly. In the book, you'll find the SpaceWars ships on Pages 12 (on Paul's tournament flyer), 36 (banner on the wall, the ship models in SW's locker, the same flyer, a mini poster on the inside of SW's locker door, and a Nocturn doodle on a sticky note), 38 (the banner again), 39 (on the chalkboard), 42 (the sprites for the game), and 48 (in the tournament)! The game art is by Maria Becerra. When the game ends, we see the tournament winner scene, which ties into the book, in Level 5. This screen's art is by Trinity.
There are currently no known issues with the three Level 4 versions.
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In this game, you will be moving throughout each level to try and reach the portal at the end. There are six levels that alternate between our two planets that you'll visit, Lavash and Foodera. The first three levels are on foot, where you can run and jump. The next three levels give you the ability to fly with your jetpack!
Here are the player movements:
- Up Arrow - move up
- Left Arrow- move to the left
- Down Arrow - move down
- Right Arrow - move to the right
- Spacebar - jump (aided by your jetpack)
Note: In the final three levels, you can fly with your jetpack! When this is the case, tap on the spacebar to fly. Tap rapidly to move Paul more to the top of the screen. Tap once to jump with regular gravity effects.
There are a total of 6 levels, each with a different challenge and scene. Avoid falling into gaps and into the lava (or onto fiery pepper tiles). However, don't worry. Your progress will only be reset to the beginning of the level that you're on, not all the way back to Level 1.
Finish all 6 levels, and there will be an animation screen telling you that you won! Also, you can click in the game window to play again. If you're done, click the exit button (a red "X" in the upper right, on Windows) to close the game.
For this challenge, you will have to play Creeper Chase levels with a countdown timer! Some levels will have different times for the timer. When the timer gets to 0, you will have to restart from Level 1 all over again!
For Level 5 Challenge 2, you will have lives at the top of your screen. If you lose all your lives, you will have to restart to Level 1. To help with your limited lives, there will be batteries scattered across the levels that will replenish your lives. It is possible to complete Challenge 2 with more lives than you started off with!
As Paul Python chases the Cryptic Creeper through portals, they hop across two different planets: Lav-ash (a planet with a lot of lava and ash) and Foodera (a food and particularly desserts-based planet). This game is a simulator to help train Paul in his Creeper pursuits. The stages in this game alternate between the planets of Lav-ash and Foodera. The Lav-ash tiles in the game are molten lava (with lava pulsating in it) and flowing lava (the hazard tiles). The Foodera tiles in the game include chocolate chip cookies, orange slices, marshmallows, chocolate covered marshmallows, and jalapeno peppers (the hazard tiles). The planets are mentioned in the book on Page 59. Foodera is shown on Pages 60-63. Lav-ash is shown on pages 63, 72-73, and 86-87. In the game, when a stage starts, if you look at the Creeper's portal (where you're heading), you'll see the Cryptic Creeper hop into his portal (or does he slither?). Note that in the game, the Creeper's portal is dark blue. You can see him use the dark blue portal in the book on Pages 49, 60, 61 (Paul enters it), 63 (created for SideWinder), and 86 (SideWinder coming out the other side of it). On stages 4-6 (back in the game), you move to using your jetpack, where Paul can fly in short spurts to avoid obstacles and chase the Cryptic Creeper. In the book, the jetpack is first shown on Page 50 in the background. Page 57 mentions that RAM and ROM finished working on it, and that Java Lynn is bringing it to Paul. Java gives a thumbs up. On Pages 60-61, Java Lynn brings Paul the jetpack, and he tries it out. The art in this game is from Maria Becerra.
On Windows, there is a compatibility issue between Pygame and Windows Operating System. If you move the window by the header bar at the top, the Paul Python game character falls down through the floor or falls off the map and off the screen. If this happens, and Paul is still on the screen, you can keep playing. If Paul falls off the screen, you'll need to restart the game. (To restart, close the window. Click the exit button ("X") in the upper-right corner. Then re-open the game file to start over.)
- This issue is for Windows OS in all three versions of the game. It doesn't seem to be a problem for the Mac.
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In this game, you will be fighting as Paul Python against the Cryptic Creeper, in an ultimate boss battle!
Here are the player movements:
- Up Arrow - move up
- Left Arrow- move to the left
- Down Arrow - move down
- Right Arrow - move to the right
- Spacebar - attack with your Laser Blade
The goal of this game is to get close to the Cryptic Creeper and attack him, by using the Spacebar. The Creeper shoots projectiles, so attack in close range and quickly get away! Try not to run into the pillars, when you're running away!
The Creeper has more health than you, because his health bar goes down slower. (Both of your health bars are shown at the top of the window.) So, don't camp near the boss and spam your attacks all at once. The Creeper will quickly use his close-range attack to deplete all your health.
Based on the result of the battle, you will see a "GAME OVER" losing animation screen, with an option to Play Again. Or, if you win, you'll see a "YOU WIN" animation screen, also with the option to Play Again.
Keep trying this battle to win the game, and then to see how little health you can lose before defeating the boss!
This challenge has no gameplay changes, but there will be sound for when Paul gets hit or hits the Cryptic Creeper.
In this challenge, there will be a projectile that moves around Cryptic Creeper and will damage Paul if you collide with it. Make sure to avoid this extra projectile while attacking Cryptic Creeper!
In the background of the game, you'll see some damaged Virobots on the ground (with animated sparks). This ties into Page 63, when Paul is about to fight the Virobots. Also in the game, you'll see the torch (animated), coffee pot, and Employee Breakroom sign that are also on Page 63. Also in the background, you'll see Paul's Posse, Grafika Turtle, Annie Conda, and SideWinder, along with the recently rescued Bayo Wolf. This ties into the scene on Page 73. Also in the game, Bayo's shiny white cone of shame can be seen on the ground. It's also on the ground on Page 87 in the book. The game art is by Maria Becerra. When the game ends, you see a scene of Paul Python playing the simulator (the game you just played), to get good at battling the Cryptic Creeper. You can also see the damaged Virobots on the ground, and he's next to the same Employee Breakroom sign. This image was designed by Grace Howard.
There are currently no known issues with the three Level 6 versions.
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In this game, you'll attack your opponent's character cards to defeat them!
Get started:
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First, click the Start button in the middle of the screen to begin the game.
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This is a two-player game. Choose who will be Player 1 and who will be Player 2.
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Have Player 1 enter their name in the first box, which is provided after you click Start. Press Enter once you enter the name correctly.
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After that, there will be another, similar screen for Player 2 to input their name. Press Enter, once you enter the name.
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Click the Flip the Coin button on the next screen. The game randomly chooses Heads or Tails, to determine who goes first. If you get Heads, Player 1 goes first. If the coin lands on Tails, then Player 2 goes first.
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After you see who gets to go first, click Start.
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Whoever got to go first will choose from three cards to decide which character they want to start with. (The three cards are randomly chosen for the player.)
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Then the other player will get to pick which card to start with (their three cards are also randomly chosen).
For each turn, here's what you can do:
- Select which character that you want to use, from your On Deck box. Either player can switch their active card, at any time.
- When the attacking player is ready, click TechType Attack to attack the other player's card.
If the attacking player gets Heads, then the attack is a success, and you'll deal 2-4 damage points to the defending player's card. If the attacking player gets Tails, then it's a miss, and no damage is done.
While you play, here are some important things to look at:
- What is your opponent's active card?
- Which of your cards will do the most damage to that card? (Note that characters have weaknesses and strengths, depending on their TechType, such as Python, Java, Scratch, Small Basic, and Bash.)
- Do you have a card that's about to be defeated? You might want to switch cards.
- If you're the defending player, and your opponent switched to a character that has an advantage over your card (your card's TechType is weak to their card's TechType), then you should try to switch your card before they attack!
You can see if your character card might be about to lose, by looking at the health bar that's above each of the two active cards. There are 15 total health points, and once that is used up, that card is defeated (and the next card in your On Deck box becomes your active card). This continues until one of the players runs out of cards.
The goal of the game is to keep as much of your cards' health as possible and to defeat the other player's three cards.
Resistance and Weaknesses
Here is how the TechType strengths and weaknesses work:
- If a defending character's TechType is weak to the attacking character's TechType, then you lose 4 health points, instead of 3.
- If a defending character's TechType is resistant to the attacking character's TechType, then you lose 2 health, instead of 3.
- If the defending character is not weak or resistant to the attacking character, then the defending character receives 3 damage.
Use the next list to determine which cards you want to use to attack with, in order to do the most damage. (Or, you can choose which characters to defend with, to minimize damage.)
These TechTypes (named after programming languages) have the following resistances and weaknesses to other TechTypes:
- Python
- Weakness: Java
- Resistance: Bash
- Java
- Weakness: Scratch
- Resistance: Python
- Scratch
- Weakness: Small Basic
- Resistance: Java
- Small Basic
- Weakness: Bash
- Resistance: Scratch
- Bash
- Weakness: Python
- Resistance: Small Basic
In this first challenge, you are going to add two more cards to each player's deck, so that you can switch between five cards (instead of three cards).
In this second challenge, you are going to add a second attack option, the Coded Attack (which has special abilities, like to get an extra turn).
Here are the different Coded Attack abilities (if you get Heads on the coin flip):
- Do 1 more damage:
- Cryptic Creeper
- Intelli-Scents
- Mrs. Scratcher
- ViralMuto
- Make the opponent lose 1 turn:
- Grafika Turtle
- Queen Cobra
- Make the opponent flip tails:
- Bayo Wolf
- Java Lynn
- Captain Javo
- Virobotica
- Justin Timbersnake
- Restore 1 health:
- Annie Conda
- SideWinder
- Emily Air-Heart
- Woodchuck Norris
- Take another turn:
- Syntax Turtle
- RAM and ROM
- Jitter Bug
Note that an opponent losing a turn and you getting an extra turn are basically the same thing.
In the book, you can find Paul's Justin Timbersnake IncrediCard on Page 12. Grafika has a pack of IncrediCoders cards in her locker on Page 36.
The IncrediCards themselves are pretty interesting, so let's go over them:
- Python TechType
- Paul Python
- Coded Attack: Mech Mash - Prepare for a mech-powered pummeling.
- TechType Attack: Lava Blasts
- Quote: "Um, I don't get Lava Blasts until the second book."
- Annie Conda
- Coded Attack: Super Squeeze - You don't want to be her main squeeze.
- TechType Attack: Flash Flood
- Quote: "Only fools throw jewelry off boats."
- SideWinder
- Coded Attack: Goth Glare - SideWinder stares into your soul!
- TechType Attack: Animal Magnetism
- Quote: "Is your brain big enough to play this game?"
- Queen Cobra
- Coded Attack: Class Lecture - Cure's insomnia!
- TechType Attack: Sonic Earrings - Now your ears are ringing.
- Quote: "I will school you!"
- Justin Timbersnake
- Coded Attack: Pop - You're getting electric wavy!
- TechType Attack: Sound Wave - Justin waves bye bye bye.
- Quote: "I'll make you cry me a river!"
- Paul Python
- Java TechType
- Java Lynn
- Coded Attack: Flying Kick - Now that's a flying squirrel!
- TechType Attack: Javelin Throw
- Quote: "Don't make me go nuts on you!"
- Captain Javo
- Coded Attack: Punch Line - You shouldn't have waited for it.
- TechType Attack: Gauntlet Blitz
- Quote: "I found my super suit!"
- RAM and ROM
- Coded Attack: Twin Spin - They're always kidding around.
- TechType Attack: Megahertz - Paddled by a motherboard.
- Quote: "Mind if I butt in?"
- Jitter Bug
- Coded Attack: Dance Fight - Her dancing is painful to watch.
- TechType Attack: Jitter Jump - She hops to it.
- Quote: "You bug me."
- Java Lynn
- Small Basic TechType
- Grafika Turtle
- Coded Attack: Shell Smash - Hit with a she shell!
- TechType Attack: Turtle Graphics
- Quote: "When I phone home, my house answers."
- Syntax Turtle
- Coded Attack: Board Slam
- TechType Attack: Drone Drain - The rays drone on and on.
- Quote: "I'm not into Skate or Die. I prefer Skate and Flyi!"
- Emily Air-Heart
- Coded Attack: Helmet Headbutt - Emily gets ahead.
- TechType Attack: Fighter Jet
- Quote: "I do the impossible for breakfast."
- Grafika Turtle
- Scratch TechType
- Intelli-Scents
- Coded Attack: Cranium Caning - Hit in head by her Sugar Cane.
- TechType Attack: Dimensional Vortex - This vacuum dimension really sucks!
- Quote: "Future and past were fighting. Things got tense."
- Bayo Wolf
- Coded Attack: Bitter Bite - It's worse than his bark.
- TechType Attack: Blade of Hrunting - Do you want a slice?
- Quote: "It's a dog-eat-you world."
- Mrs. Scratcher
- Coded Attack: Purrfect Pounce - When puss comes to shove.
- TechType Attack: Poison Apple - You didn't learn from Snow White.
- Quote: "How about them apples?"
- Woodchuck Norris
- Coded Attack: Roundhouse Kick - That's a house that you don't want to visit.
- TechType Attack: Wood Chuck - You'll see how much wood he can chuck!
- Quote: "I can kill two stones with one bird."
- Intelli-Scents
- Bash TechType
- Cryptic Creeper
- Coded Attack: Viper Strike
- TechType Attack: Plasma Bolt - This lightning doesn't strike out.
- Quote: "I'm so powerful that it's shocking."
- Virobotica
- Coded Attack: Scepter Smash - You got crowned, but in a bad way.
- TechType Attack: Super Goo - You've been slimed, but it smells pleasant.
- Quote: "Roses are #FF0000. Violets are #0000FF."
- Virobots
- Coded Attack: Dog Pile - Now that's heavy metal!
- TechType Attack: Carried Away - But not by flying monkeys.
- Quote: (Unintelligible screeching)
- ViralMuto
- Coded Attack: Cape Whip
- TechType Attack: Techsplosion - iBoom
- Quote: "You get an A for effort, but I'll get a V for victory!"
- Cryptic Creeper
When the game ends, you see Paul Python's Power Posse playing IncrediCards outside! The game art was by Trinity and Maria Becerra.
- When entering your name, if you press the Numpad Enter button on a keyboard, it enters a rectangular box instead of progressing to the next screen. You'll need to press the Enter button on the main keyboard to progress the screen.
- When entering your name, the game won't accept all non-English letters and characters. We use the default Pygame font. Some scripts (like Cyrillic or Asian languages) might show as blank squares.
- When entering your name, you can enter a very long name that goes outside the window. When playing the game, it will only show the first 15 characters of your name, including spaces. Rather than limit the number of characters that you can enter, we limit the number of characters that show up on the screen, to what fits on the screen. (We truncate the name to permanently reduce the name down to 15 characters.)
Now it's time to head back to the level you're on, to continue your programming journey: