Set up Python and pygame

To work on any of the Python projects on this site, you will first need Python itself, plus a library called pygame that helps with drawing pictures, playing sounds and reading the keyboard and mouse.

The easiest way to get both is Thonny, a code editor made for people learning Python. It comes with Python built in, so there’s nothing else to install first.

💻 Step 1: Install Thonny

Go to thonny.org, download the installer for your computer (Windows, Mac or Linux), and run it. Then open Thonny.

📦 Step 2: Install pygame

In Thonny, click Tools > Manage packages…, search for pygame and click Install. When it’s finished, close the window.

You only need to do this once - pygame will still be there next time you open Thonny.

🧪 Step 3: Quick test

To test that everything is working, click File > New, and type in this program:

import pygame

pygame.init()
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((400, 300))
screen.fill("skyblue")
pygame.display.flip()

# Wait until the window is closed.
while pygame.event.wait().type != pygame.QUIT:
    pass

pygame.quit()

Click the green Run button (or press F5). Thonny will ask you to save the file first - call it something like test.py.

A window should open, filled with blue. Close it to end the program. If it worked, you’re ready to go!

📂 Step 4: Open a project

Each project comes with a starter project to download. Unzip it, then in Thonny click File > Open… and open the .py file inside the project’s folder. Click Run (or press F5) to run it.

⚠️ Watch out: keep the .py file in the same folder as the pictures that came with it, or the game won’t be able to find them!