No Starch Press has published a number of programming books that impress me, both in their depth and in their accessibility.
Build an HTML5 Game is intended for people who already have a basic familiarity with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This book takes you beyond the typical “let’s introduce tags and build basic web pages” stuff you usually see and walks the reader through building an entire browser-based game, start to finish. The programming starts immediately in Chapter 1, which is cool. All the important facets are covered from sprite animation, transitions and transforms, game logic, levels and sound, and quite a bit more.
The reader who is most likely to benefit is the one who has at least a little programming experience, but wants to broaden their skills with an entry into game development. To that end, I suggest you already have a little experience making web sites and using JavaScript and jQuery. If you have previous experience developing Flash games and want to move to the present and future with HTML5, you will also find this book useful and an enjoyable way to get started.
I really enjoyed reading Build an HTML5 Game. The writing is clear and easy to follow, the examples are good, and the concepts provide a solid foundation on which you can build. This is not a comprehensive “everything you will ever need or want to know about game programming” sort of book, but rather a clean and enjoyable entry that helps you over the first hurdle of writing that first game. It then gives you ideas and tips to help you know what else is out there so you have a bit of a roadmap to continue learning as you figure out what sorts of games you want to create.
Disclosure: I was given my copy of this book by the publisher as a review copy. See also: Are All Book Reviews Positive?