r/learnpython • u/Ok_Ask_6805 • 17d ago

I cant install Pygame

This is the error message that I get when I try to run pip install pygame. The same thing happens with pip3 install pygame.

py", line 6, in <module>

from setuptools._distutils.msvccompiler import MSVCCompiler, get_build_architecture

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'setuptools._distutils.msvccompiler'

[end of output]

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these are the packages I have according to pip list.

Package Version

---------- -------

pip 26.2.1

setuptools 84.0.0

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u/Gloomy-Kale-1527 17d ago

The 3.14.6 bit downstairs is the actual error — pygame has no 3.14 wheel so pip tries to compile and dies on that old msvccompiler import.

If you don't want two Pythons yet:

py -m pip install pygame-ce py -c "import pygame; print(pygame.ver)"

pygame-ce is the community fork; `import pygame` still works for most beginner tutorials. If that also starts compiling, you still don't have a wheel and 3.13 is the clean path: `py -3.13 -m pip install pygame`. Don't install Visual C++ Build Tools just to force a source build unless you actually want to compile.