🎲 Number Guessing Game — Bash Scripting Activity

number-guessing-game.md

🎲 Number Guessing Game — Bash Scripting Activity

⏱ Duration: 40 minutes

🧰 Tools: Bash, if, while, case, $RANDOM, I/O operations

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🎯 Objective

Build an interactive CLI game in Bash that:

• Randomly generates a number between 1 and 20
• Prompts the user to guess it
• Gives feedback: “Too high”, “Too low”, or “Correct!”
• Continues prompting until guessed right
• Handles invalid input gracefully

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🛠 Expected Script Behavior

Here’s what your script (guess_number.sh) should do:

#!/bin/bash

# 🎲 Generate random number between 1 and 20
TARGET=$((RANDOM % 20 + 1))
TRIES=0

echo "Welcome to the Number Guessing Game! 🎯"
echo "Guess a number between 1 and 20:"

while true; do
  read -p "Your guess: " GUESS

  # Validate input: is it a number?
  case $GUESS in
    ''|*[!0-9]*) echo "⛔ Please enter a valid number!" && continue ;;
  esac

  ((TRIES++))

  if [ "$GUESS" -eq "$TARGET" ]; then
    echo "🎉 Correct! The number was $TARGET. You guessed it in $TRIES tries."
    break
  elif [ "$GUESS" -lt "$TARGET" ]; then
    echo "📉 Too low! Try again."
  else
    echo "📈 Too high! Try again."
  fi
done

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✅ Key Concepts Practiced

Bash Feature	What it Does
$RANDOM	Generates pseudo-random numbers
if-elif-else	Branch logic for comparing guesses
while true	Loop until correct guess is made
read -p	User input in interactive mode
case	Validate input format (numeric check)

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💡 Optional Enhancements

• Limit max attempts to 5 and end game if not guessed
• Add color to terminal using ANSI codes
• Track best scores in a file (local leaderboard)
• Make difficulty levels: easy (1–10), hard (1–100)

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🧠 Discussion Points

Topic	Industry Relevance
Loops & input validation	Building CLI tools & setup wizards
Case conditions	Robust error handling in scripts
Random number generation	Testing, simulation, automation

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🏁 Sample Output

Welcome to the Number Guessing Game! 🎯
Guess a number between 1 and 20:
Your guess: 10
📈 Too high! Try again.
Your guess: 7
📉 Too low! Try again.
Your guess: 8
🎉 Correct! The number was 8. You guessed it in 3 tries.

“Code is like a game — you just need the right logic to win.” 💡