Building a Simple “Take Stones” Game in Python

The article introduces a simple "take stones" game where two players alternately remove 1‑3 stones from a pile, and the player who takes the last stone loses.

It shows the final animated result and then guides you to implement the game in Python.

Key functions are defined, including a random number generator ( random.randint ) to let the computer choose its move, and a retry mechanism using the retrying library ( @retry ) to repeatedly prompt for valid user input.

The main workflow starts by calling get_start_num to set the initial stone count, enters an infinite while 1: loop, and within each iteration calls cpu_number for the computer's move, judge to evaluate the game state, and user_number to obtain and validate the player's choice.

Implementation details include using random.randint to generate moves, handling edge cases when fewer than three stones remain, and raising exceptions to trigger retries for invalid inputs.

The tutorial highlights two main take‑aways: using random.randint for random moves and leveraging the retrying module to simplify input validation.

It notes that the current computer opponent selects moves randomly and encourages readers to improve the AI for smarter play.