Dungeon Explorer

A Step-by-Step Tutorial for writing a 2D game in Python

by Dr. Kristian Rother

image created with dreamstudio.ai

Who is this tutorial for?

I wrote this tutorial with beginner and intermediate Python learners in mind.

As a beginner, you will probably need some guidance during this tutorial. If you would like to start learning Python by yourself, check out the material on www.academis.eu/python_basics/

With some experience you can work through the exercises on your own and come up with new, cool features. You might also discover situations where you can start trying out advanced development techniques, such as testing, refactoring and OOP patterns.

In both cases, I hope you have fun creating a complete Python game. May the source be with you.

Contents

• Installation
• The Prototype
• Draw the Floor
• Stop at Walls
• Exit Stairs
• Smooth Movement
• Collect Coins
• Health
• Traps (Optional)
• Code cleanup: Lookup Table
• Keys
• Unlock Doors
• Teleporters
• Switch (Optional)
• Code Cleanup: Split a Function
• Fireballs
• Healing Potion (Optional)
• Skeletons
• Multiple Levels
• More Monsters (Optional)
• Music
• Title Screen
• Explosions
• Write a Video
• Recap Exercises
  • Pixels on the Screen
  • A simple level generator
  • Items
  • Random Level Generator

Source Code

github.com/krother/dungeon_explorer

License

© 2025 Dr. Kristian Rother

The Python code is distributed under the conditions of the MIT License. See LICENSE.TXT for details

The text can be used under the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike License 4.0 (CC-BY-SA 4.0). See creativecommons.org for details

The tile graphics are taken from opengameart.org/content/dungeon-crawl-32x32-tiles set under CC:0. See ART_LICENSE.TXT for a list of authors.

Contributors

An initial game was developed during my Advanced Python courses at the SRH Berlin . It was further refined at my courses at TUB-CO. I would like to thank the following people for their active contributions:

Omar Saleh, Sultan Mirzoev, Ibrahim Khalil, Martin Esposito, Abdullah Aljamal, Chanhwan Park, Aritha Bandara, Godfrey Rukundo, Hilary Mubwandarikwa, Jonathan Estephan, Prabraj Singh, Andrei Madiarov, Muhammad Mujtaba Ahmed, Nair Roshan, Arnold Joseph, Samuel Malayil Verghese, Karan Zaveri, Harshetha Murthy, Shreyaasri Prakash, Pradyumna SR, Venkat Chavan, Chethan DV, Bhavya Babuta, Deepshikha, Francisco Saavedra Gonzalez, Azad Aliyev, German Sarychev, Juma Buge Abbas, Aleksandr Rykov, Chen-Yu Liu, Varun Shah, Hemanth Kumar Karthikeyan, Khushal Khare, Nikhil Gadekar, Ipshita Singh, Ole Fritko, Aleksandr Iwanovsky.

Contact

kristian.rother@posteo.de