def print_guessed(word, user_inputs):
    """
    word:  a string holding the secret word
    use_inputs:  a list of letters, collecting the user inputs
    returns: None
    
    this function prints the word letter by letter showing
    unguessed letters as "*"
    
    So the function might show "P Y * * O N" if the word is "PYTHON" and
    the user_input is ["O", "N", "P", "X", "E", "Y"]
    """
    result = []
    for c in word:
        if c in user_inputs:
            result.append(c)
        else:
            result.append("*")

    print(" ".join(result))
   

# some tests
print_guessed("ABCA", [])
print_guessed("ABCA", ["A"])
print_guessed("ABCA", ["A", "C"])
print_guessed("ABCA", ["A", "B", "C"])

* * * *
A * * A
A * C A
A B C A

def count_guessed(word, user_inputs):
    """
    word:  a string holding the secret word
    use_inputs:  a list of letters, collecting the user inputs
    
    returns: the number of letters in "word" appearing in "user_inputs".
    """
    count = 0
    for c in word:
        if c in user_inputs:
            count += 1
    return count
    

# some tests:
assert count_guessed("ABCA", []) == 0
assert count_guessed("ABCA", ["A"]) == 2
assert count_guessed("ABCA", ["X"]) == 0
assert count_guessed("ABCA", ["A", "B"]) == 3
assert count_guessed("ABCA", ["A", "B", "C"]) == 4

def ask_new_guess(user_inputs):
    """
    user_inputs: list of letters already input by user
    returns: new guess from user in upper case
    
    asks until the user provids a new guess, if he repeats a
    previous guess a message is displayed and the user is
    asked again. Same happens if user inputs empty string
    or more than one character
    """
    while True:
        guess = input("please guess a character: ").upper()
        if guess == ".":
            return guess
        if len(guess) != 1:
            print("invalid input")
        elif guess in user_inputs:
            print("you already tried this character")
        else:
            return guess
            
    

def play_game(secret_word):
    user_inputs = []
    guesses_left = 5

    while True: 
        print_guessed(secret_word, user_inputs)

        guess = ask_new_guess(user_inputs)
        if guess == ".":
            break
        user_inputs.append(guess)
        
        if guess not in secret_word:
            guesses_left -= 1
            print("WRONG ! %d guesses left !!!" %  guesses_left)
            if guesses_left == 0:
                print("GAME OVER ! THE WORD IS", secret_word)
                break

        print()
        letters_guessed = count_guessed(secret_word, user_inputs)
        if letters_guessed == len(secret_word):
            print("YOU GOT IT !")
            break


import random
secret_words = ["notebook", "pythoncourse"]

secret_word = secret_words[random.randint(0, len(secret_words) - 1)].upper()

play_game(secret_word)

PYTHONCOURSE
PYTHONCOURSE []
* * * * * * * * * * * *
please guess a character: P

PYTHONCOURSE ['P']
P * * * * * * * * * * *
please guess a character: Y

PYTHONCOURSE ['P', 'Y']
P Y * * * * * * * * * *
please guess a character: T

PYTHONCOURSE ['P', 'Y', 'T']
P Y T * * * * * * * * *
please guess a character: H

PYTHONCOURSE ['P', 'Y', 'T', 'H']
P Y T H * * * * * * * *
please guess a character: O

PYTHONCOURSE ['P', 'Y', 'T', 'H', 'O']
P Y T H O * * O * * * *
please guess a character: N

PYTHONCOURSE ['P', 'Y', 'T', 'H', 'O', 'N']
P Y T H O N * O * * * *
please guess a character: C

PYTHONCOURSE ['P', 'Y', 'T', 'H', 'O', 'N', 'C']
P Y T H O N C O * * * *
please guess a character: CC
invalid input
please guess a character: 
invalid input
please guess a character: x
WRONG ! 4 guesses left !!!

PYTHONCOURSE ['P', 'Y', 'T', 'H', 'O', 'N', 'C', 'X']
P Y T H O N C O * * * *
please guess a character: U

PYTHONCOURSE ['P', 'Y', 'T', 'H', 'O', 'N', 'C', 'X', 'U']
P Y T H O N C O U * * *
please guess a character: R

PYTHONCOURSE ['P', 'Y', 'T', 'H', 'O', 'N', 'C', 'X', 'U', 'R']
P Y T H O N C O U R * *
please guess a character: S

PYTHONCOURSE ['P', 'Y', 'T', 'H', 'O', 'N', 'C', 'X', 'U', 'R', 'S']
P Y T H O N C O U R S *
please guess a character: E

YOU GOT IT !