pygame-arcade

name	pygame-arcade
description	Build Python games with pygame (or pygame-ce) and arcade: event loop, clock and delta time, surfaces and sprite groups, arcade Window/View/SpriteList, a main.py layout whose logic stays testable without a display, pytest with SDL_VIDEODRIVER=dummy, windowed playtest, pyinstaller packaging. Use when the owner mentions pygame, arcade, or a Python game.
version	1.0.0
author	Remedy
tags	["game","python","pygame","arcade","pytest","pyinstaller"]
requires	[]
tools	["game_project_info","bash_exec","file_read","file_write","file_edit","repo_search","list_dir","game_playtest","computer_screenshot","vision_decode"]
triggers	["\\b(pygame|pygame-ce|arcade game|python game|python arcade)\\b"]

pygame / arcade (Python games)

Python games are quick to scaffold and quick to verify: the logic runs headless under pytest, and the window opens in a second for a playtest.

Fingerprint

1. game_project_info(path); file_read pyproject.toml / requirements.txt → pygame, pygame-ce (drop-in fork, same import pygame), or arcade. main.py or <pkg>/__main__.py is the entry.
2. python -c "import pygame; print(pygame.version.ver)" or import arcade; print(arcade.version.VERSION) inside the project's environment (.venv, uv run, poetry run — follow what exists).
3. assets/ for images/sounds; tests/ for pytest.

Install when missing (ask first if the env is shared): pip install pygame-ce or pip install arcade (arcade 3.x needs Python 3.9+ and OpenGL 3.3+).

Layout that stays testable

<game>/
  main.py            creates the window, runs the loop — thin
  game/
    logic.py         rules, state, grid, scoring — no pygame import
    entities.py      dataclasses for player/enemies; pure math
    render.py        draws state onto a Surface / arcade window
    input.py         maps pygame events → logic commands
  assets/
  tests/test_logic.py

The split is the whole trick: logic.py never touches a display, so pytest runs anywhere. Details: references/testing-without-a-window.md.

pygame loop (the shape)

pygame.init() → screen = pygame.display.set_mode((w, h)) → clock = pygame.time.Clock() → loop: dt = clock.tick(60) / 1000 → for event in pygame.event.get() (handle QUIT, KEYDOWN) → keys = pygame.key.get_pressed() → update logic with dt → draw to screen → pygame.display.flip(). Sprites: subclass pygame.sprite.Sprite with image + rect, keep them in pygame.sprite.Group, call and . Full skeleton and collision helpers: .