As part of the AMFOSS Club Praveshan tasks, today I built a command-line quiz game powered by the Open Trivia Database API. At first, it looked overwhelming (so many API parameters and JSON fields), but step by step, I made it work.

I learned how to:

  • Fetch categories and questions dynamically from the API.
  • Parse tricky JSON fields like question, correct_answer, and incorrect_answers.
  • Add a timer with threads, so the quiz doesn’t freeze while waiting for input.
  • Use os._exit(0) at the end to cleanly exit the game when it’s done.

One issue I ran into was the countdown timer and user input clashing — if you didn’t type an answer, the quiz would skip ahead without giving you space to respond. I solved this with threading, running the timer in the background while still letting the player type.

I also wrote a README to document how I approached the problem, what I learned, how I tested the code, and even added notes for future improvements. It felt like my first proper “mini-project” instead of just practice code.

⚡ Overall, I walked away with a stronger understanding of threads, APIs, and handling user input in Python. Seeing it all come together into a working quiz game was super satisfying, and I’m excited to keep pushing forward with more Praveshan tasks!