Cows and Bulls is a pen and paper code-breaking game usually played between 2 players. In this, a player tries to guess a secret code number chosen by the second player. The rules are as follows:
- A player will create a secret code, usually a 4-digit number. This number should have no repeated digits.
- Another player makes a guess (4 digit number) to crack the secret number. Upon making a guess, 2 hints will be provided- Cows and Bulls.
- Bulls indicate the number of correct digits in the correct position and cows indicates the number of correct digits in the wrong position. For example, if the secret code is 1234 and the guessed number is 1246 then we have 2 BULLS (for the exact matches of digits 1 and 2) and 1 COW (for the match of digit 4 in the wrong position)
- The player keeps on guessing until the secret code is cracked. The player who guesses in the minimum number of tries wins.
Explanation:
Let’s see a sample run for better understanding.
Secret Code: 3768 Guess: 1234 Response: 0 bulls, 1 cow Guess: 5678 Response: 1 bull, 2 cows Guess: 1678 Response: 1 bull, 2 cows Guess: 3678 Response: 2 bulls, 2 cows Guess: 3148 Response: 2 bulls, 0 cows Guess: 3768 You guessed right!
Approach:
To create this game in Python, the computer generates a secret code and the user will have to guess the code. Break it down into these blocks:
- Generate a secret code- Generate a random 4-digit number and check that it does not have any repeated digits.
- Generate hint or response- Take the generated 4-digit secret number and the guessed number (input). Find the common digits with exact matches (bulls) and the common digits in the wrong position (cows). Repeat with each guess until you have 4 bulls (an exact match) or you run out of tries.
Constraint: The secret code and the guessed code should be of 4-digits (between 1000 and 9999) and have no repeated numbers.
Program:
Python
# Import required moduleimport random # Returns list of digits # of a numberdef getDigits(num): return [int(i) for i in str(num)] # Returns True if number has # no duplicate digits # otherwise False def noDuplicates(num): num_li = getDigits(num) if len(num_li) == len(set(num_li)): return True else: return False # Generates a 4 digit number # with no repeated digits def generateNum(): while True: num = random.randint(1000,9999) if noDuplicates(num): return num # Returns common digits with exact # matches (bulls) and the common # digits in wrong position (cows)def numOfBullsCows(num,guess): bull_cow = [0,0] num_li = getDigits(num) guess_li = getDigits(guess) for i,j in zip(num_li,guess_li): # common digit present if j in num_li: # common digit exact match if j == i: bull_cow[0] += 1 # common digit match but in wrong position else: bull_cow[1] += 1 return bull_cow # Secret Codenum = generateNum()tries =int(input('Enter number of tries: ')) # Play game until correct guess # or till no tries leftwhile tries > 0: guess = int(input("Enter your guess: ")) if not noDuplicates(guess): print("Number should not have repeated digits. Try again.") continue if guess < 1000 or guess > 9999: print("Enter 4 digit number only. Try again.") continue bull_cow = numOfBullsCows(num,guess) print(f"{bull_cow[0]} bulls, {bull_cow[1]} cows") tries -=1 if bull_cow[0] == 4: print("You guessed right!") breakelse: print(f"You ran out of tries. Number was {num}") |
Output:
