Back from holidays, and with some different readings done as I left my Kindle at home but had the tablet. I wanted to touch Phaser.js since I saw some really nice game jam entries and I want my "game tests" to be online if possible (else I'd probably opt for PyGame to practice my Python skills), so I took the opportunity to grab a Phaser ebook.
Review
Title: Making games with Phaser: Color Zap
Author: William Clarkson
This book is 100% practical, oriented to building a single videogame. So almost no introductions, no filling with full descriptions of methods available, etc. This is not a reference book, so you will only learn about the concepts and features required to build a certain game. It is like an extended "how to make a game with Phaser.js" tutorial. You will end with a fully working color-based reflexes game that works in desktop and mobile.
I liked the approach and the focus on just building what's needed, as is precisely what I want, to grasp the basics of this game development framework and then dig deeper by myself. Steps are small and progress correctly, explanations are nice and code is readable. The game built is not too complex but interesting enough to learn basics about sprite handling, inputs, sound, scenes, and a tiny intro to the physics engine.
If I have something "bad" to remark, it might be the too frequent full source code listings, many times after some simple additions. It gets a bit boring and breaks the reading flow to stop and skip a few pages because we added logic to three small functions and we get again the full javascript source code because of them. Either on critical additions, or at the end of each chapter would have probably been better. There is also one or two not-so-good practices, like encouraging to do User-Agent based browser detection, even when Phaser includes a built-in detection (and we're told about it).
We're talking about a small ebook (around 120 pages with small font) with a smal price tag, so considering that I think it is a worthwile read. You might find other free online full game tutorials, but I didn't spend time checking if indeed there are, and this is a quick dive well explained and concise.
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