Asteroids Game

A recreation of the classic Asteroids arcade game built with Python and Pygame. Shoot through waves of asteroids that split into smaller pieces, and survive as long as you can.

Features

• Player ship with rotation and thrust movement in all directions
• Asteroids that split into two faster, smaller pieces when shot
• Projectile shooting with a cooldown timer
• Collision detection between ship, asteroids, and shots
• Continuous asteroid spawning from random screen edges
• Frame-rate independent movement using delta time

How the Game Works

The player controls a triangular ship in the centre of the screen. Asteroids spawn from the edges and drift inward. Shooting a large asteroid splits it into two smaller, faster ones. The game ends when the ship collides with any asteroid.

Controls

Key	Action
W	Thrust forward
S	Thrust backward
A	Rotate left
D	Rotate right
Space	Shoot

Prerequisites

• Python 3.13+
• uv package manager
• Pygame (installed automatically via uv sync)

Getting Started

git clone https://github.com/lillysilly3/asteroid-game.git
cd asteroid-game
uv sync
uv run python main.py

Project Structure

asteroid-game/
├── game/
│   ├── player.py         # Ship movement, rotation, and shooting
│   ├── asteroid.py       # Asteroid behaviour and splitting logic
│   ├── asteroidfield.py  # Spawning system
│   ├── shot.py           # Projectile mechanics
│   ├── circleshape.py    # Base class with shared collision detection
│   ├── constants.py      # Game configuration values
│   └── logger.py         # Game state and event logging
├── main.py               # Entry point and game loop
├── pyproject.toml
└── uv.lock

What I Explored

• Pygame fundamentals — Game loop, event handling, sprite groups, and display rendering
• OOP with inheritance — Shared CircleShape base class for collision logic across all game objects
• Delta time — Frame-rate independent movement so the game runs consistently at any speed
• Sprite group pattern — Separating updatable and drawable groups for a clean game loop
• Game physics — Velocity vectors, rotation, and asteroid splitting mechanics
• Package structure — Organising a multi-file Python project into a proper package

Future Ideas

• Score counter and high score tracking
• Health system with respawning
• Sound effects and background music
• Increasing difficulty over time
• Main menu and game over screen

Acknowledgments

This project was built as part of the Boot.dev curriculum.