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Activity 4.6 — Trivia Game

Introduction

Activity 4.6

Building a Game with Arrays

Topics

Using arrays to store game data
Traversal to control game flow
Tracking scores
Processing results

Why Games?

Games use the same programming concepts as serious applications — they just present them in a more fun way.

In this activity, you’ll build a complete game using only tools you already know.

Parallel Arrays

This trivia game uses parallel arrays:

questions[i] holds a question
answers[i] holds the correct answer

Both arrays must stay the same length.

Demo: Trivia Loop

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// Processing pattern: count correct answers
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let score = 0;
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let i = 0;
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while (i < questions.length) {
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  let response = prompt(questions[i]).toLowerCase();
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  if (response == answers[i]) {
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    console.log("Correct!");
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    score++;
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  } else {
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    console.log("Incorrect.");
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  }
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  i++;
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}
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console.log("Final score:", score);

What Makes This a Complete Program?

User input
Stored data
Decision-making
Final output

'F' → Fullscreen

Objectives

Store game data using arrays.
Use traversal to control program flow.
Track and process a game score.
Build a complete, interactive program.

Activity Tasks

Create a new project named trivia-game.
Complete each task individually.

Task 1: Build the Trivia Game

Ask each trivia question using a loop.
Compare user answers to the correct answers.
Keep track of the player’s score.

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console.log("--- Demo 1: Trivia Game ---");
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// Trivia questions and answers
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let questions = [
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  "What planet is known as the Red Planet?",
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  "How many bits are in a byte?",
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  "What language are we programming in?"
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];
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let answers = [
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  "mars",
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  "8",
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  "javascript"
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];
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// Score tracker
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let score = 0;
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let i = 0;
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// Ask each question
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while (i < questions.length) {
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  let response = prompt(questions[i]).toLowerCase();
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  if (response == answers[i]) {
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    console.log("Correct!");
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    score++;
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  } else {
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    console.log("Incorrect. The correct answer was: " + answers[i]);
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  }
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  i++;
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}
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// Final result
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console.log("You answered " + score + " out of " + questions.length + " correctly.");
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prompt("Press enter to continue...");

Task 2: Analyze Game Results

Store multiple scores in an array.
Calculate the average trivia score.
Print a summary message.

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console.log("--- Demo 2: Trivia Game Summary ---");
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// Example score data
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let scores = [2, 3, 1, 3, 2];
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// Calculate class average score
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let total = 0;
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let i = 0;
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while (i < scores.length) {
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  total += scores[i];
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  i++;
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}
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let average = total / scores.length;
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console.log("Average trivia score:", average);
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if (average == scores.length) {
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  console.log("Perfect average! Everyone nailed it!");
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} else if (average >= 2) {
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  console.log("Nice job overall!");
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} else {
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  console.log("Looks like we need more practice!");
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}
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prompt("Press enter to continue...");

Sample Output

--- Demo 1: Trivia Game ---
What planet is known as the Red Planet? mars
Correct!
How many bits are in a byte? 8
Correct!
What language are we programming in? javascript
Correct!
You answered 3 out of 3 correctly.
Press enter to continue... [Enter]

--- Demo 2: Trivia Game Summary ---
Average trivia score: 2.2
Nice job overall!
Press enter to continue... [Enter]

Reflection Questions

You may write your reflection answers as comments at the bottom of your code.

How do arrays help organize game data?
Why must the questions and answers arrays stay the same length?
How is this program similar to a Create Performance Task?

Submission

Submit your activity and reflection answers to the appropriate dropbox.