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Flowers

A tutorial for Python and Pygame Zero 1.2

Download flowers.zip

Rules

The game starts with a grid of covered cells. Under some of the cells are flowers. The game is over when a flower is uncovered.

Left clicking a cell uncovers it, and if none of its adjacent cells contain flowers, they are also uncovered, and for those uncovered cells, if none of their adjacent cells contain flowers, they are also uncovered, and so on.

Right clicking a cell toggles between the cell having a flag, a question mark, or nothing. Flags prevent a cell from being uncovered with a left click. Question marks are visual markers which don't affect what happens when the cell is clicked.

The game is complete when all non-flower cells are uncovered.

Controls

Left click	Uncover a cell
Right click	Cycle a covered cell through having a flag, a question mark, or nothing

Overview

The cells are represented by dictionaries containing a boolean value indicating whether or not it contains a flower, and a string value indicating which of four states the cell is in: covered, covered with a flag, covered with a question mark, or uncovered.

The cells which have flowers are chosen randomly. The first cell clicked is excluded from the possible options.

When a cell is clicked, its position is added to the "uncover stack" list.

While there is anything left in the uncover stack...

A position is removed from the end of the stack.
This position is set to uncovered.
If there are no flowers surrounding this position, the surrounding covered and question marked positions (i.e. not the uncovered and flagged positions) are added to the uncover stack.

The cells are drawn by assembling the following images:

Coding

Drawing tiles

The covered cell image is drawn for every cell.

You can access the image files used in this tutorial by downloading and unzipping the .zip file linked to at the top of this page.

Full code at this point

def draw():
    screen.fill((0, 0, 0))

    for y in range(14):
        for x in range(19):
            cell_size = 18
            screen.blit('covered', (x * cell_size, y * cell_size))

Selecting cells

The cell position under the mouse is updated every frame.

This needs the cell size, so it is moved to be global.

For now, this position is drawn as text.

The pygame module is imported so that pygame.mouse.get_pos can be used.

The math module is imported so that math.floor can be used.

Full code at this point

import pygame
import math

cell_size = 18

def update():
    global selected_x
    global selected_y

    mouse_x, mouse_y = pygame.mouse.get_pos()
    selected_x = math.floor(mouse_x / cell_size)
    selected_y = math.floor(mouse_y / cell_size)

def draw():
    screen.fill((0, 0, 0))

    for y in range(14):
        for x in range(19):
            # Removed: cell_size = 18
            screen.blit('covered', (x * cell_size, y * cell_size))

    # Temporary
    screen.draw.text(
        'selected x: ' + str(selected_x) + 'selected y: ' + str(selected_y),
        (0, 0), color=(0, 0, 0)
    )

Keeping selected cell within grid

If the mouse position is greater than the grid's X or Y cell count (i.e. it is off the right or bottom of the grid), then the selected position is set to the last cell on that axis.

The grid's X and Y cell count is reused from drawing the cells, so variables are made for them.

Full code at this point

# etc.

grid_x_count = 19
grid_y_count = 14

def update():
    # etc.

    if selected_x > grid_x_count - 1:
        selected_x = grid_x_count - 1
    if selected_y > grid_y_count - 1:
        selected_y = grid_y_count - 1

def draw():
    screen.fill((0, 0, 0))

    for y in range(grid_y_count):
        for x in range(grid_x_count):
            # etc.

Highlighting cells

The selected cell is a drawn with the highlighted image.

Full code at this point

def draw():
    screen.fill((0, 0, 0))

    for y in range(grid_y_count):
        for x in range(grid_x_count):
            if x == selected_x and y == selected_y:
                image = 'covered_highlighted'
            else:
                image = 'covered'
            screen.blit(image, (x * cell_size, y * cell_size))

Change cell image when left mouse button is down

When the left mouse button is down, the selected cell is drawn as an uncovered cell.

Full code at this point

def draw():
    screen.fill((0, 0, 0))

    for y in range(grid_y_count):
        for x in range(grid_x_count):
            if x == selected_x and y == selected_y:
                if pygame.mouse.get_pressed()[0] == 1:
                    image = 'uncovered'
                else:
                    image = 'covered_highlighted'
            else:
                image = 'covered'
            screen.blit(image, (x * cell_size, y * cell_size))

Drawing flowers

A grid is created to store the state of the cells.

Each cell will be represented by a dictionary which stores two values: whether it has a flower, and whether it is uncovered/flagged/question marked/nothing.

For now, it will only store the flower value.

If a cell's 'flower' key is true, for now, the flower image is drawn over the cell image.

Full code at this point

# etc.

grid = []

for y in range(grid_y_count):
    grid.append([])
    for x in range(grid_x_count):
        grid[y].append({
            'flower': False
        })

    # Temporary
    grid[0][0]['flower'] = True
    grid[0][1]['flower'] = True

def draw():
    screen.fill((0, 0, 0))

    for y in range(grid_y_count):
        for x in range(grid_x_count):
            # etc.

            if grid[y][x]['flower']:
                screen.blit('flower', (x * cell_size, y * cell_size))

Simplifying code

The code for drawing cells and drawing the flower is the same except for the image to draw, so a function is created with the image and the X and Y values as parameters.

Full code at this point

def draw():
    screen.fill((0, 0, 0))

    for y in range(grid_y_count):
        for x in range(grid_x_count):

            def draw_cell(image, x, y):
                screen.blit(image, (x * cell_size, y * cell_size))

            if x == selected_x and y == selected_y:
                if pygame.mouse.get_pressed()[0] == 1:
                    draw_cell('uncovered', x, y)
                else:
                    draw_cell('covered_highlighted', x, y)
            else:
                draw_cell('covered', x, y)

            if grid[y][x]['flower']:
                draw_cell('flower', x, y)

Toggling flowers

For testing purposes, right clicking a cell will toggle its flower.

Full code at this point

def on_mouse_up(button):
    # Temporary
    if button == mouse.RIGHT:
        grid[selected_y][selected_x]['flower'] = not grid[selected_y][selected_x]['flower']

Showing surrounding flower count

To find the surrounding flower count, each position in the 8 directions around each cell is looped through. If any of these positions is inside the grid and the cell at the position has a flower, then 1 is added to the surrounding flower count.

If the surrounding flower count is greater than 0, then, for now, the appropriate number image is drawn over the cell.

Full code at this point

def draw():
    # etc.

    for y in range(grid_y_count):
        for x in range(grid_x_count):

            # etc.

            surrounding_flower_count = 0

            for dy in range(-1, 2):
                for dx in range(-1, 2):
                    if (
                        not (dy == 0 and dx == 0)
                        and 0 <= (y + dy) < len(grid)
                        and 0 <= (x + dx) < len(grid[y + dy])
                        and grid[y + dy][x + dx]['flower']
                    ):
                        surrounding_flower_count += 1

            if grid[y][x]['flower']:
                draw_cell('flower', x, y)
            elif surrounding_flower_count > 0:
                draw_cell(str(surrounding_flower_count), x, y)

Random flower placement

A list is created containing every X and Y position in the grid.

Random positions are repeatedly removed from this list and the cells at these positions are set to have a flower.

Full code at this point

import random

# etc.

possible_flower_positions = []

for y in range(grid_y_count):
    for x in range(grid_x_count):
        possible_flower_positions.append({'x': x, 'y': y})

for flower_index in range(40):
    position = possible_flower_positions.pop(random.randrange(len(possible_flower_positions)))
    grid[position['y']][position['x']]['flower'] = True

Resetting the game

A function is made which sets the initial state of the game.

This function is called before the game begins and when any key is pressed.

Full code at this point

def reset():
    global grid

    grid = []

    for y in range(grid_y_count):
        grid.append([])
        for x in range(grid_x_count):
            grid[y].append({
                'flower': False
            })

    possible_flower_positions = []

    for y in range(grid_y_count):
        for x in range(grid_x_count):
            possible_flower_positions.append({'x': x, 'y': y})

    for flower_index in range(40):
        position = possible_flower_positions.pop(random.randrange(len(possible_flower_positions)))
        grid[position['y']][position['x']]['flower'] = True

reset()

def on_key_down(key):
    reset()

Uncovering cells

The cells are given a new key for the state of the cell. For now, this is only whether the cell is covered or uncovered.

For now, when a cell is left clicked its state is set to 'uncovered'.

If a cell's state is 'uncovered', then the uncovered image is drawn instead of the covered image.

Full code at this point

def reset():
    global grid

    grid = []

    for y in range(grid_y_count):
        grid.append([])
        for x in range(grid_x_count):
            grid[y].append({
                'flower': False,
                'state': 'covered', # 'covered', 'uncovered'
            })

    # etc.

def on_mouse_up(button):
    if button == mouse.LEFT:
        grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] = 'uncovered'

def draw():
    screen.fill((0, 0, 0))

    for y in range(grid_y_count):
        for x in range(grid_x_count):

            def draw_cell(image, x, y):
                screen.blit(image, (x * cell_size, y * cell_size))

            if grid[y][x]['state'] == 'uncovered':
                draw_cell('uncovered', x, y)
            else:
                if x == selected_x and y == selected_y:
                    if pygame.mouse.get_pressed()[0] == 1:
                        draw_cell('uncovered', x, y)
                    else:
                        draw_cell('covered_highlighted', x, y)
                else:
                    draw_cell('covered', x, y)

            # etc.

Flood fill: uncover stack

A list of cell positions is created, and eventually all of the cell positions to be uncovered will be added to this list.

For now, this "uncover stack" will just contain the selected position, so it will only uncover the selected cell like before.

While there are positions in the uncover stack, a position is removed from it and the cell at this position on the grid is uncovered.

Full code at this point

def on_mouse_up(button):
    if button == mouse.LEFT:
        stack = [
            {
                'x': selected_x,
                'y': selected_y,
            }
        ]

        while len(stack) > 0:
            current = stack.pop()
            x = current['x']
            y = current['y']

            grid[y][x]['state'] = 'uncovered'

Flood fill: adding to the stack

Each position in the 8 directions around each cell is looped through, and if the position is inside the grid and it is covered, then, for now, it added to the uncover stack.

This results in all of the cells becoming uncovered.

Full code at this point

def on_mouse_up(button):
    if button == mouse.LEFT:

        stack = [
            {
                'x': selected_x,
                'y': selected_y,
            }
        ]

        while len(stack) > 0:
            current = stack.pop()
            x = current['x']
            y = current['y']

            grid[y][x]['state'] = 'uncovered'

            for dy in range(-1, 2):
                for dx in range(-1, 2):
                    if (
                        not (dy == 0 and dx == 0)
                        and 0 <= (y + dy) < len(grid)
                        and 0 <= (x + dx) < len(grid[y + dy])
                        and grid[y + dy][x + dx]['state'] == 'covered'
                    ):
                        stack.append({
                            'x': x + dx,
                            'y': y + dy,
                        })

Flood fill: using surrounding flower count

The surrounding cells of a position removed from the uncover stack are only added to the stack if none of the surrounding cells have flowers.

Finding the number of surrounding flowers is reused from drawing it, so a function is made.

Full code at this point

def get_surrounding_flower_count(x, y):
    surrounding_flower_count = 0

    for dy in range(-1, 2):
        for dx in range(-1, 2):
            if (
                not (dy == 0 and dx == 0)
                and 0 <= (y + dy) < len(grid)
                and 0 <= (x + dx) < len(grid[y + dy])
                and grid[y + dy][x + dx]['flower']
            ):
                surrounding_flower_count += 1

    return surrounding_flower_count

def on_mouse_up(button):
    if button == mouse.LEFT:

        stack = [
            {
                'x': selected_x,
                'y': selected_y,
            }
        ]

        while len(stack) > 0:
            current = stack.pop()
            x = current['x']
            y = current['y']

            grid[y][x]['state'] = 'uncovered'

            if get_surrounding_flower_count(x, y) == 0:
                for dy in range(-1, 2):
                    for dx in range(-1, 2):
                        if (
                            not (dy == 0 and dx == 0)
                            and 0 <= (y + dy) < len(grid)
                            and 0 <= (x + dx) < len(grid[y + dy])
                            and grid[y + dy][x + dx]['state'] == 'covered'
                        ):
                            stack.append({
                                'x': x + dx,
                                'y': y + dy,
                            })

def draw():
    # etc.

            if grid[y][x]['flower']:
                draw_cell('flower', x, y)
            elif get_surrounding_flower_count(x, y) > 0:
                draw_cell(str(get_surrounding_flower_count(x, y)), x, y)

Drawing flags and question marks

A cell's state can also be a flag or a question mark.

If a cell's state is a flag/question mark, the flag/question mark image is drawn over the cell.

To test this, the state of two cells are changed to have a flag and a question mark.

Full code at this point

def reset():
    # etc.

            grid[y].append({
                'flower': False,
                'state': 'covered', # 'covered', 'uncovered', 'flag', 'question'
            })

# Temporary
grid[0][0]['state'] = 'flag'
grid[0][1]['state'] = 'question'

def draw():
    # etc.

            if grid[y][x]['flower']:
                draw_cell('flower', x, y)
            elif get_surrounding_flower_count(x, y) > 0:
                draw_cell(str(get_surrounding_flower_count(x, y)), x, y)

            if grid[y][x]['state'] == 'flag':
                draw_cell('flag', x, y)
            elif grid[y][x]['state'] == 'question':
                draw_cell('question', x, y)

Cycling flags and question marks

Right clicking a cell cycles its state through having nothing, a flag, and a question mark.

Full code at this point

def on_mouse_up(button):
    if button == mouse.LEFT:
        # etc.

    elif button == mouse.RIGHT:
        if grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] == 'covered':
            grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] = 'flag'

        elif grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] == 'flag':
            grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] = 'question'

        elif grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] == 'question':
            grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] = 'covered'

Prevent uncovering flags

If a cell has a flag, then it can't be uncovered by a left click.

Full code at this point

def on_mouse_up(button):
    if button == mouse.LEFT and grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] != 'flag':
        # etc.

Question marks don't stop fill

Positions are added to the uncover stack if the cell's state is covered or a question mark (but not a flag).

Full code at this point

def on_mouse_up(button):
    # etc.

            if get_surrounding_flower_count(x, y) == 0:
                for dy in range(-1, 2):
                    for dx in range(-1, 2):
                        if (
                            not (dy == 0 and dx == 0)
                            and 0 <= (y + dy) < len(grid)
                            and 0 <= (x + dx) < len(grid[y + dy])
                            and grid[y + dy][x + dx]['state'] in ('covered', 'question')
                        ):
                            stack.append({
                                'x': x + dx,
                                'y': y + dy,
                            })

    # etc.

Change cell image when left mouse button is down over flag

If the left mouse button is down when the mouse is on a cell with a flag, then the cell is drawn with the covered image.

Full code at this point

def draw():
    # etc.

                    if pygame.mouse.get_pressed()[0] == 1:
                        if grid[y][x]['state'] == 'flag':
                            draw_cell('covered', x, y)
                        else:
                            draw_cell('uncovered', x, y)
                    else:
                        draw_cell('covered_highlighted', x, y)
    # etc.

Game over

If a flower is uncovered, then the game is over.

A variable is made to store whether the game is over or not.

For now, clicking cells does nothing if the game is over.

Full code at this point

def reset():
    global grid
    global game_over

    # etc.

    game_over = False

def on_mouse_up(button):
    global game_over

    if not game_over:
        if button == mouse.LEFT and grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] != 'flag':
            if grid[selected_y][selected_x]['flower']:
                grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] = 'uncovered'
                game_over = True
            else:
                stack = [
                # etc.

Game won

If there are no cells which are covered and don't have a flower, then the game is won.

Full code at this point

def on_mouse_up(button):
    global game_over

    if not game_over:
        if button == mouse.LEFT and grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] != 'flag':
            if grid[selected_y][selected_x]['flower']:
                # etc.
            else:
                # etc.

                complete = True

                for y in range(grid_y_count):
                    for x in range(grid_x_count):
                        if grid[y][x]['state'] != 'uncovered' and not grid[y][x]['flower']:
                            complete = False

                if complete:
                    game_over = True

    # etc.

New game on next click

If the game is over and a mouse button is clicked, then the game is reset.

Full code at this point

def on_mouse_up(button):
    global game_over

    if not game_over:
        # etc.

    else:
        reset()

Don't highlight when game is over

When the game is over, the mouse no longer highlights cells.

Full code at this point

def draw():
    # etc.

            if grid[y][x]['state'] == 'uncovered':
                draw_cell('uncovered', x, y)
            else:
                if x == selected_x and y == selected_y and not game_over:

    # etc.

Hide flowers until game is over

The flowers aren't drawn until the game is over.

Full code at this point

def draw():
    # etc.

            if grid[y][x]['flower'] and game_over:
                draw_cell('flower', x, y)

    # etc.

Hide numbers for covered cells

If a cell is not uncovered, then its surrounding flower count is not shown.

Full code at this point

def draw():
    # etc.

            if grid[y][x]['flower'] and game_over:
                draw_cell('flower', x, y)
            elif get_surrounding_flower_count(x, y) > 0 and grid[y][x]['state'] == 'uncovered':
                draw_cell(str(get_surrounding_flower_count(x, y)), x, y)

    # etc.

Preventing clicking on flower on the first click

So that the first click doesn't uncover a flower, the code for placing flowers is moved so that it runs when the left mouse button is clicked, and the cell under the mouse cursor is not added to the possible flower positions.

A variable is created to store whether a click is the first click of the game.

Full code at this point

def reset():
    global first_click
    # etc.

    first_click = True

def on_mouse_up(button):
    global game_over
    global first_click

    if not game_over:
        if button == mouse.LEFT and grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] != 'flag':
            if first_click:
                first_click = False

                possible_flower_positions = []

                for y in range(grid_y_count):
                    for x in range(grid_x_count):
                        if not (x == selected_x and y == selected_y):
                            possible_flower_positions.append({'x': x, 'y': y})

                for flower_index in range(40):
                    position = possible_flower_positions.pop(random.randrange(len(possible_flower_positions)))
                    grid[position['y']][position['x']]['flower'] = True

            if grid[selected_y][selected_x]['flower']:
                grid[selected_y][selected_x]['state'] = 'uncovered'
                game_over = True
            else:

    # etc.