Python Day #20: Why PyGame Is the Best Way to Learn Python for Beginners
Discover why PyGame is the best starting point for beginners learning Python. Build games, boost coding skills, and follow the ultimate Python roadmap to success.
Over the last nineteen weeks of this Python roadmap, I’ve been carefully building your foundation in Python.
We started at zero, and step by step, you’ve learned the essentials: variables, control structures, functions, modules, and object-oriented programming.
This is my exact system I’ve built out over the last 8 years that I know works, and along the way I’ve made sure that you were introduced to the rights topics, at the right time.
We’ve also talked about best practices, how to think like a programmer, and how to apply concepts in real-world scenarios. This is the exact roadmap I go through with my students in my Python Masterclass!
Now comes one of the most exciting parts so far—taking all those skills and putting them into practice inside real projects. And there’s no better place to do that than with PyGame.
Every week you’ll be introduced to a new topic in Python, think of this as a mini starter course to get you going and allow you to have a structured roadmap that actually builds to create you a solid foundation in Python. Join us today!
If you’ve ever wondered when you’ll finally be able to use all of your Python skills at once, PyGame is the answer. This is one of the absolute best learning tools out there and will actually allow you to use your skills and build out your logical thinking.
It’s a library designed for building 2D games, but more importantly, it’s a framework that ties together everything you’ve learned so far into one interactive, challenging, and fun place.
This is why I love introducing PyGame to students at this stage of the roadmap. It doesn’t just teach you how to make games. It teaches you how to think like a programmer by forcing you to combine your skills in useful ways.
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P.S - At the bottom, I include three PyGame projects you can start building today that are bound to improve you skills and logical thinking!
Why Games Make the Best Learning Projects
Let’s pause here and talk about why games are such a perfect fit for learning. At first glance, game development might feel like a kids hobby. Maybe you’re not aiming to be a game developer at all, and that’s perfectly fine.
But the reason I introduce games at this stage isn’t because I expect you to release the next hit video game. It’s because games are one of the richest, most natural ways to practice programming concepts. We are all visual learners, this helps with that.
Think about what goes into even the simplest game. You have to handle input from the player, you need a set of rules that determine what happens, you need to keep track of scores or progress, and you need a way to display everything visually.
Every one of these challenges maps perfectly to a concept you’ve already learned in our Python series here on The Nerd Nook.
A game isn’t just “one thing.” It’s a collection of moving parts working together. This makes it the perfect project to sharpen your programming muscles, because you can’t rely on isolated skills anymore, you have to combine them.
It’s like learning a new language. You might have spent months practicing vocabulary, grammar rules, and pronunciation drills. But the first time you step into a café in Paris and order coffee in French, everything comes together.
Suddenly, you’re not just reciting words from a textbook, you’re communicating. PyGame is that moment for many of my students in Python.
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PyGame as the Playground for Python Skills
Over these nineteen weeks, you’ve learned a lot of individual skills. Let’s walk through how each of them naturally finds a place in PyGame.
You began with control structures, those if statements and loops that let you make decisions and repeat actions. In a game, these aren’t abstract exercises anymore, they’re the core part of your program.
A loop keeps the game running, and conditionals decide whether a player collides with an enemy, whether they’ve won, or whether the game resets.
You then learned functions and why they matter for clean, reusable code. In games, functions become the backbone of repeated actions. Without them, your game would turn into a mess of copy-pasted logic. Functions aren’t just nice to have in PyGame, they’re essential.
As you progressed, we tackled modules and how to organize code. Games grow in size very quickly. Even a simple game might include code for the player, enemies, background, and settings.
Breaking those pieces into separate modules isn’t just about neatness. Without structure, your game would collapse under its own complexity.
And then we headed into object-oriented programming. Games are naturally object-oriented. You have objects like the player, enemies, obstacles, or power-ups. Each one has properties, like speed or position, and actions, like move or jump.
Suddenly, the abstract pillars of OOP—encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism—become concrete. They’re the tools that bring your game world to life.
This is why I preach PyGame in that it’s the ultimate training tool. It takes everything you’ve learned and forces you to use it in ways that feel natural and necessary.
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Learn Python. Build Projects. Get Confident
Most people get stuck before they even start…
Wasted hours Googling, watching random YouTube videos, and never actually finish a project. But that doesn’t have to be you.
I’ve built The Python Masterclass to take you from “I don’t know where to start” to “I can build real-world Python projects” — in less than 90 days.
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Here’s what you’ll get when you join today:
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My masterclass is designed so you see your first win in less than 7 days — you’ll build your first working Python scripts in week one and finish projects in your first month.
The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll have projects you can actually show to employers or clients.
Imagine where you’ll be 90 days from now if you start today.
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The Immediate Feedback Loop
In many code tasks, our results are abstract. We might write a program to calculate averages or sort a list, and the only output is numbers on a screen.
Games are different. They give us instant, visual feedback. We press a key, and our character moves. We change a value, and suddenly the enemy is twice as fast. We add a rule, and the whole game feels different.
This feedback loop is incredibly motivating. It turns programming into something tangible and creative. We’re no longer just writing lines of code, we’re building worlds, telling stories, and creating challenges.
For many of my students, this is the moment where programming stops feeling like homework. That is also how I hope you guys get feeling at this point in Python.
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PyGame and Problem-Solving Skills
Let’s be honest here, programming isn’t always easy. You will run into bugs. Your player won’t move the way you expect, your collisions won’t register correctly, or your game might crash unexpectedly.
But this is exactly what makes PyGame valuable. Every bug is a puzzle, while every error message is a clue. By solving these puzzles you develop problem-solving skills that go far beyond games.
When you’re debugging a PyGame project, you’re learning how to break problems into smaller pieces, test assumptions, and find creative solutions. These are the same skills that professional developers use every day.
Why PyGame Fits Perfectly in the Python Roadmap
This roadmap has always been about building Python fluency step by step. We didn’t jump into games on day one, because the foundations matter. But now that you’ve put in the work, PyGame is the natural next step.
If you’ve been getting value from my Python Roadmap then you’re bound to get 10x the value from my Python Masterclass. It’s open for everyone to join, and it’s now more affordable than ever before.
Just think, if you start today, where will you be in 6 months from now?
It ties together everything you’ve learned so far into a cohesive, engaging project. It shows you how loops, conditions, functions, and objects work together in practice. It introduces you to the challenges of organizing larger projects.
And most importantly, it gives you a space to experiment, fail, and grow.
This is why I always say PyGame is one of the best tools for beginners. It doesn’t just teach you new commands, it teaches you how to use the Python you already know in meaningful ways.
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PyGame Projects to Build in Order
Here are three PyGames project ideas that I know will test you and push you. Follow these in order as each game builds on the previous game and as you progress through these three they are sure to use everything we have covered in the Python Roadmap to Success so far!
Ping pong
Seems overly basic, but I assure you as this is one of your first porjects this will get you thinking more than you thought. This can be done in two ways, either completly with functions or you can create classes to direct the flow of your code.
There is no need for any outside images or anything crazy here. Keep it super basic and add some kind of scoring mechanism. This project is where you’ll start to put the piece together and things click.
Shooter Game
This is more fun than the last one. I try to have my students make a shooter style game where they are a spaceship and they must shoot to destroy astroids and enemy ships.
Here you will incorporate classes to build out objects. You’ll also start loading in outside images and sound effects while using events on a new level.
Tetris
The most advanced game of them all but it’s bound to help you truly master and grasp all the concepts you’ve learned so far in Python.
Not only are you building out multiple classes that need to interact with each other, this project will also test your understanding and implementation of data structures in Python. Do you remember how to work with lists and dictionaries?
It’ll all be put to the test with this game here, I can assure you that by the time you are done with this you’ll feel as if things are finally clicking for you!
My Best Starter Resources
Here are the best resources I have to offer to get you started with Python no matter your background! Check these out as they’re bound to maximize your growth in the field.
Code with Josh: This is my YouTube channel where I post videos every week designed to help break things down and help you grow.
Zero to Knowing: My Python Masterclass Subscription gives you everything you need to go from zero to building real-world projects — with new lessons, challenges, and support every month. Over 1,500+ students have already used this exact system to learn faster, stay motivated, and actually finish what they start.
My Books: Maybe you’re looking to get a bit more advanced in Python. I’ve written 3 books to help with that, from Data Analytics, to SQL all the way to Machine Learning.
Wrapping Up Lesson Twenty
As we close out this week’s lesson, I want you to step back and see how far you’ve come. Nineteen weeks ago, Python might have felt overwhelming or even intimidating.
Now you’ve built a strong foundation, and you’re ready to apply it in projects that feel alive and exciting.
PyGame is your chance to do exactly that. It’s where abstract concepts turn into concrete applications. It’s where your code stops being theory and starts being practice.
And it’s where you’ll discover that you’re not just learning Python—you’re learning how to think like a programmer.
Remember, you don’t have to build the next great video game. You just have to start small, keep practicing, and use PyGame as a way to reinforce everything you’ve learned so far.
Over time, you’ll not only improve your Python skills but also gain the confidence to tackle bigger and more complex projects.
This is why PyGame matters. It’s not about games, it’s about preparing you to tackle bigger, more advanced programming concepts.
Let’s keep moving forward with Day #21 next week.
Hope you all have an amazing week nerds ~ Josh (Chief Nerd Officer 🤓)
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