HTML5 Games: Creating Fun with HTML5, CSS3, and WebGL [Paperback]

I pre-ordered this book and had high hopes for it. My hopes were realized. My major desire was to find a good book that I can use in a course
where we will build a game engine using webgl technologies. I would have liked perhaps an additional chapter about webgl, but am quite pleased
with the chapter that is present. Also, the other chapters are informative and helpful, e.g. those describing web sockets, local storage, etc. I
downloaded the software from the publisher website and ran many of the samples. In one case, I had to make a change to the code to accept 0 (zero)
from an xmlhttprequest where the code was only accepting a 200 as a valid return code. Otherwise, things that I tried ran unchanged. At one point I
was confused by a reference to "BC" in the Index. A quick email to the author got an almost immediate reply in which he told me that the acronym
referred to Bonus Content, and that the content would be added to the downloads at the website. He emailed me later when the content was available.
While I will probably provide some websites as supplements to be visited by my students, I am completely satisfied with the book and am currently
planning to use it in my course this summer.
Thanks.

I've now read five titles on HTML5 game development, and while each has their redeeming qualities and high points, Jacob Seidelin's fine work is an absolute must-have. This isn't for the novice or beginning dev looking to add a new arrow to their web programming quill - this is a healthy discussion that tackles specific challenges in creating rich, engaging games for the browser environment. Seidelin greatly emphasizes the web's key advantage of being accessible via browsers on the desktop, smartphones, tablets, and hopefully soon, interactive TVs.

The book doesn't spend time discussing game theory and doesn't go into exhaustive detail with APIs for canvas and multimedia, it states the objective in building a puzzle game and then attacks the problem by building-out each of the components and subsystems. Each chapter is very logically-organized and well-written, neither too short nor not overly verbose. It leverages techniques for multiplayer games like Web Sockets and Web Workers and uses slick techniques to take advantage of local storage for a real console feel. The animation and WebGL chapters are very much appreciated, too.

But the book's finest hour is its hearty chapter dealing with the nuances of mobile games for iOS and Android. This chapter is essential reading, featuring material not found in wide distribution with most titles out there at the moment.

While I'm not a big fan of books using third-party libraries in their examples ([...]), Seidelin does leverage Modernizr and Sizzle, the DOM access library that's not as top-heavy as jQuery. In so doing is uses clever JavaScript programming idioms and patterns that are very worth considering for your next project.

This book is so good, I'd recommend owning it AS A BOOK. With maybe an electronic copy as a backup. :)

While I'm new to programming with HTML 5 (um, very new), I picked up this book because of my interest in programming games for mobile devices. That information isn't widely available online or in books, and so was well worth picking up this book over.

I was delighted to find that chapter was particularly robust. And since I have a general interest in learning the rest of the book's contents, I'm finding this a great read.

While many programming books are written in either a dry, technical style similar to a textbook, or in a chatty, dumbed-down style, this book takes the perfect middle road. It's factual, to the point, matter of fact and tells me everything I need to know in just the right order.

I'm finding the biggest strength of the book is its organized layout. It feels like reading a simple set of tutorials online, in the sense that it has bolded headlines to direct my eye where needed, information is broken up into short sections that are granular and cover one tight topic, and the code itself is laid out in a way that is easy to read. Tables and black and white photos are included where needed to break up the text and provide handy reference charts.

You know whether or not you want the book by the title, most likely, and are just reading reviews to see if there's anything wrong with this book. There's not. It's great. Pick it up and get programming.