simple 2D text game movement in bash

board.sh

#!/bin/bash

cols=14
rows=7
emptychar=O
playerchar=X

repeats=('')
for ((i=1; i <= $cols; i++)); do
    spaces=$(printf "%${i}s" ' ')
    repeats[$i]=${spaces// /$emptychar}
done
clear=$(tput clear)

current_row=$((rows / 2))
current_col=$((cols / 2))

printboard()
{
    echo -e "${clear}q=quit h=left j=down k=up l=right\n"
    local r
    for ((r=0; r < $current_row; r++)); do
        echo "${repeats[$cols]}"
    done
    printf "%s%c%s\n" "${repeats[$current_col]}" "$playerchar" "${repeats[$cols - $current_col - 1]}"
    for ((r=$current_row + 1; r < $rows; r++)); do
        echo "${repeats[$cols]}"
    done
}

while :; do
    printboard
    read -s -N 1 command
    case $command in
        h)  (( $current_col )) && let current_col-- ;;
        j)  (( $current_row != $rows - 1 )) && let current_row++ ;;
        k)  (( $current_row )) && let current_row-- ;;
        l)  (( $current_col != $cols - 1 )) && let current_col++ ;;
        q)  exit
    esac
done