Pygame Mastery Worksheet

💾 Save & Load Systems

Module 17 of 20 · Level ★★☆ · Time: 40 min

SCORE___ / 20

NameClassDate

After this worksheet you can

Save and load game data with jsonKeep settings separate from progressBuild a sorted high-score tableImplement idempotent achievement checks

📚 Quick Recap

A save file is a snapshot of state written to disk with Python's json module. Gather everything worth saving into one dictionary, dump it with json.dump(), and load it back with json.load() — always guarding against a missing or corrupted file with sensible defaults.

🧮 Section B · Problem Solving ● INTERMEDIATE 2 + 3×3 = 11

5The function that reads JSON data back into a Python object is .

6Settings should be stored in a file separate from the file so a New Game doesn't reset them.

7Why should settings.json be kept separate from savegame.json?

8What two dict-merging steps ensure an old settings.json still works after new setting keys are added in a game update?

9In the achievement system, what field in player_data prevents the same achievement from re-triggering its popup?

🚀 Section C · Challenge ● CHALLENGE 5

10A player's savegame.json becomes corrupted mid-write after a crash. Walk through what load_progress() should do, step by step, so the game doesn't crash on next launch.

💭 Reflection — the most useful thing I learned:

A ___/4 B ___/11 C ___/5 Total ___/20 Teacher's Signature Parent's Signature

✂ answer key — fold or cut before handing out

1-B 2-C 3-B 4-B | 5 json.load() 6 savegame.json (the progress file) 7 = settings like volume/resolution should persist across a "New Game," but progress resets — mixing them into one file would wipe preferences the player didn't intend to lose 8 = start from a copy of DEFAULT_SETTINGS, then call merged.update(data) with whatever keys were found in the loaded file — defaults fill in any missing new keys while the player's saved values still override them 9 = the "achievements" list/set stored in player_data — check_achievements() only unlocks ids that aren't already present there | 10 = check whether the file exists first; open and json.load() it inside a try/except block; if json.JSONDecodeError or OSError is raised, treat it like a first launch and return the sensible default progress dict instead of letting the exception crash the game

📄 Need offline practice?Download the print-ready PDF or open the one-page cheat sheet.

⬇ Worksheet PDF 🗒 Cheat Sheet

🧠 Section A · Concept Check ● BEGINNER 4 × 1 = 4

🧮 Section B · Problem Solving ● INTERMEDIATE 2 + 3×3 = 11

🚀 Section C · Challenge ● CHALLENGE 5