Whac-A-Mole Game in Pygame – Whats

_{My first game, dedicated to everyone who seeks a little joy.}

A fun and slightly twisted take on the classic Whac-A-Mole game — built with Pygame.

Simple click-to-hit gameplay, cartoon visuals, and a few surprises...

Setup instructions below if you want to try or modify the game.

Initial Setup

Create a project folder** (e.g., Whats_Game) on your Desktop or any preferred location.

Build Instructions

1. Set Up Virtual Environment (venv) Navigate to your project folder and create a virtual environment:

cd ~/Desktop/Whats_Game          # Or your custom path
cd C:\Users\YourUsername\...     # Or your custom path (Windows)

python3 -m venv venv             # Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv              # Create virtual environment (Windows)

source venv/bin/activate         # macOS
venv\Scripts\activate            # Windows

# After activation, your terminal prompt should show (venv).

2. Install Dependencies

pip3 install jaraco.text pygame py2app  # macOS
pip install pygame py2app               # Windows

# Windows users, please use main_win.py and rename it to main.py by removing the _win suffix.

3. Test the Game

python3 main.py  # macOS
python main.py   # Windows

# If you encounter the error pygame.error: Unsupported image format on Windows:
# Cause: PNG files generated on macOS may use an incompatible format.
# Fix: Open the problematic image(s) in an editor (e.g., Paint, Photoshop, GIMP) and re-save them as PNG.
# Use Pre-fixed Images (Recommended):
# Overwrite images/ with images_win/ from this project for Windows compatibility.

4.1 Build macOS Executable

python3 setup.py py2app       # macOS

# The app bundle will be generated in dist/Whats.app.
# For ARM64, use the file setup.py_ARM64 and For x64, use the file setup.py_x64.
# Important: Before using, remove "_ARM64" or "_x64" from the filename, keeping only setup.py

4.2 Windows Packaging Instructions To create a standalone .exe file using PyInstaller, run the following command in Command Prompt:

pip install pyinstaller
pyinstaller --onefile --windowed ^
  --add-data "images;images" ^
  --add-data "sounds;sounds" ^
  --add-data "appicon.ico;." ^
  --icon "C:\Users\YourUsername\Desktop\Whats_game\appicon.ico" ^
  --name Whats ^
  main.py

# No icon in the .exe? Change the filename to bypass cache.

5.1 Create DMG (macOS Only) First, install create-dmg (if needed):

brew install create-dmg
cd ~/Desktop/Whats_Game    # Or your custom path


create-dmg \
  --volname "Whats 1.0.1" \
  --volicon "appicon.icns" \
  --window-pos 200 120 \
  --window-size 500 300 \
  --icon-size 100 \
  --icon "Whats.app"    100 100 \
  --icon "CREDITS.txt"  250 100 \
  --hide-extension "Whats.app" \
  --hide-extension "CREDITS.txt" \
  --app-drop-link 400 100 \
  "../Whats_1.0.1.dmg" \
  "dist/"

5.2 Creating an Installer (Windows Only)

Install Inno Setup:
→ https://jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php

Compile:
→ Open Whats.iss with Inno Setup Compiler, and click the Compile button.

Output:
→ Whats_Setup.exe will be saved to the Output folder (same directory).

Important Copyright Notice:

Some audio assets are non-commercial only (see CREDITS.txt). You must include dist/CREDITS.txt in all distributions. For commercial use, replace them with CC0/licensed audio or get author permission.

Troubleshooting Tested on macOS 12+. May not work on macOS 11 or earlier. Permission errors: Use venv or --user flag instead of --break-system-packages. DMG creation fails: Ensure Whats.app is in dist/ and paths are correct.

🕹️ Free Icon Conversion Website:
https://www.aconvert.com/image/
https://convertio.co/

Design by 3995 Hz
Proudly presented by Musimanda