Simple Text-Based Adventure Game in Node.js
Tags: javascript, beginners, node, codenewbie
Published: 2023-08-12 11:12:05

In this tutorial, we'll walk through creating a simple text-based adventure game in Node.js using the inquirer library for user prompts.

Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of JavaScript and Node.js.
Node.js installed on your computer.

Setting Up
First, create a new directory called simple-game:

```
mkdir simple-game
cd simple-game

```

Initialize a new npm project:

```
npm init -y

```

Install the inquirer library:

```
npm i inquirer

```
To allow the use of ES6 import/export syntax, open package.json and add the following line:

```
"type": "module",

```

Create a new file named game.js.

```
// Import the 'inquirer' library to handle user input
import inquirer from 'inquirer';

// Define an array of different game scenarios
const scenarios = [
    // Scenario 1: Introduction
    {
        name: 'intro',
        message: 'You wake up in a mysterious room. What do you do?',
        choices: [
            { name: 'Look around', nextScenario: 'lookAround' },
            { name: 'Open the door', nextScenario: 'openDoor' }
        ]
    },
    // Scenario 2: Looking around
    {
        name: 'lookAround',
        message: 'You find an old key on a table and a window that is slightly ajar. What do you do?',
        choices: [
            { name: 'Take the key', nextScenario: 'takeKey' },
            { name: 'Open the window', nextScenario: 'openWindow' }
        ]
    },
    // Scenario 3: Opening the door
    {
        name: 'openDoor',
        message: 'The door creaks open, revealing a dark hallway.',
        choices: [
            { name: 'Enter the hallway', nextScenario: 'darkHallway' },
            { name: 'Stay in the room', nextScenario: 'stayInRoom' }
        ]
    },
    // ... (more scenarios)
    // Scenario 7: Conclusion
    {
        name: 'ending',
        message: 'Congratulations! You have completed the adventure.',
        choices: []
    }
];

// Function to present a scenario and get player choice
const presentScenario = async (scenario) => {
    const answers = await inquirer.prompt([
        {
            type: 'list',
            name: 'choice',
            message: scenario.message,
            choices: scenario.choices.map(choice => choice.name),
        }
    ]);

    return answers.choice;
};

// Function to start the game
const startGame = async () => {
    // Start with the 'intro' scenario
    let currentScenario = scenarios.find(scenario => scenario.name === 'intro');

    // Continue looping through scenarios as long as there's a current scenario
    while (currentScenario) {
        // Present the current scenario to the player and get their choice
        const playerChoice = await presentScenario(currentScenario);

        // Find the next scenario based on the player's choice and update the current scenario
        currentScenario = scenarios.find(scenario => scenario.name === currentScenario.choices.find(choice => choice.name === playerChoice).nextScenario);
    }

    // Print a thank-you message when the game ends
    console.log('Thanks for playing! Goodbye.');
};

// Start the game by calling the startGame function
startGame();
```

This code defines various game scenarios and presents them to the player in sequence.
Each scenario provides the player with multiple choices. When a choice is made, the game moves to the next scenario.

Playing the Game
To play the game, run the following command in your terminal:

```
node game.js

```

Conclusion
With just a few lines of code, you've created a simple, engaging text-based adventure game in Node.js! This is just the foundation – you can expand on this by adding more scenarios, integrating more libraries, or even creating a graphical interface.

There you go! A simple tutorial on how to create a text-based adventure game in Node.js. You can further extend this by adding images, sounds, or even making it have a health system and more complex with additional logic and scenarios.