Hangman Simulation. Takes words out of a words.txt file.

Hangman.py

import random;

# Repeatedly play the game of Hangman:
def play():
    maxAllowedAttempts = 8; 
    print rulesDisplay(maxAllowedAttempts);
    listOfWords = inputListOfWords('words.txt');
    while (True):
        playOneGame(maxAllowedAttempts, listOfWords);
        ans = inputYesNo('\nPlay more? [Yes/No]: ');
        if(ans.lower() == 'no'): break;
    print 'So long...';

# Return the rules for the Hangman game:
def rulesDisplay(maxAllowedAttempts):
    return \
        'This program plays the game of Hangman.\n' + \
        'You are to guess a secret word by typing one or more adjacent letters.\n' + \
        'You can make at most ' + str(maxAllowedAttempts) + ' attempts.\n';

# Input words from file and return a list of all words:
def inputListOfWords(fileName):
    inFile = open(fileName, 'rU'); # read in "universal end-of-line" mode
    listOfWords = [];
    for line in inFile:
        # Strip unnecessary '\n' from right end:
        line = line.rstrip('\n');
        if (len(line) > 0 and line.isalpha()): 
            listOfWords.append(line);
    inFile.close();
    return listOfWords;

# Input valid answer for a Yes/No question while ignoring case:
def inputYesNo(prompt):
    response = raw_input(prompt);
    while (response.lower() != 'yes' and response.lower() != 'no'):
        print 'Invalid response: ', response;
        response = raw_input(prompt);
    return response;    

# Update the letters guessed so far with the current guess:
def update(lettersGuessedSoFar, guess, secretWord):
    position = secretWord.find(guess);
    while (position >=0):
        for char in guess:
            lettersGuessedSoFar[position] = char;
            position = position + 1;
        position = secretWord.find(guess, position);

# Play a single game of Hangman:
def playOneGame(maxAllowedAttempts, listOfWords):
    secretWord = chooseSecretWord(listOfWords);
    attempt = 1;
    unknownLetter = '_';
    lettersGuessedSoFar = len(secretWord) * [unknownLetter];
    for attempt in range(1, maxAllowedAttempts + 1):
        display = gameDisplay(attempt, lettersGuessedSoFar);
        guess = inputGuess(display);
        update(lettersGuessedSoFar, guess, secretWord);
        if (lettersGuessedSoFar.count(unknownLetter) == 0):
            print gameDisplay(attempt, lettersGuessedSoFar) + \
                  '\tYou won!';
            return;
    print gameDisplay(attempt, lettersGuessedSoFar) + \
          '\tYou lost. It is ' + secretWord + '.'; 

# Select a random word from a list of words: and return it in uppercase:
def chooseSecretWord(listOfWords):
    secretWord = random.choice(listOfWords);
    return secretWord.upper();

# Input player's guess and return it in uppercase:
def inputGuess(display):
    guess = raw_input(display + '\tYour guess: ');
    return guess.upper();

# Return, as a string, the current attempt number and letters guessed so far:
def gameDisplay(attempt, lettersGuessedSoFar):
    space = ' ';
    string = '('+str(attempt)+')' + \
          ':\t' + space.join(lettersGuessedSoFar);
    return string;

words.txt

Xena
Johnny
Mike
Monique
Patrick
Peter
Ryan
William
Aaron
Andrew
Bryan
Chris
Emmanuel
Gina
Jennifer
Kyle
Martha
Nick
Nicholas
Ryan
Takahiro
Tommy
Joshua