A Game Engine in Pure Python for CS1: Design, Experience, and Limits

Games are being increasingly used to create compelling assignments for students learning programming, and Python is often used as an initial programming language. To that end, we present a game engine written in pure Python. Not only does the engine integrate seamlessly with what students already know about Python, but the game engine code itself is not a "black box" -- it is readable and approachable for beginning students. We report on two years' worth of experience using our game engine in CS1 for both regular assignments as well as "master classes," the engine's design, and its limits.