My AI fundamentals class introduced Hunt the Wumpus as a classic example of Propositional Logic — you're navigating a cave, using clues to deduce where the monster is. It clicked immediately. But instead of just moving on, I figured it'd be a good excuse to actually practice the languages I'd been meaning to get more reps in.
So I built it three times. Python first, since it's where I'm most comfortable — that version became the blueprint. Then Java, which forced me to think more carefully about structure and how the same logic feels very different when you're working with strict types and OOP patterns. Then Go, because I'd been curious about it for a while and wanted to see how it handles something stateful and interactive.
The whole thing was done without AI assistance — just docs, trial and error, and figuring things out the slow way. I also made a point of avoiding external libraries wherever possible, which meant implementing things like terminal screen-refreshing from scratch. It's the kind of low-level detail that's easy to outsource but actually teaches you a lot when you sit with it.
Python took about 2 days. Java took 4. Go is still in progress — it's the one I knew least going in, so it's taking longer, which is exactly why I included it.
The code isn't perfect — the Python version especially has a few rough edges I'll clean up eventually. But the goal was never polish, it was practice. And it delivered on that.