Becoming an HTML5 Game Dev: Essential Books
Game development is easier to get into than you might think! And why wouldn’t you: it’s a great choice of career and a rare industry where developing a product can be as much fun as actually playing the game.
One subset of the gaming industry that’s all the rage right now is HTML5 games. This technology allows making games that will work on any modern platform right in your browser. In one of our previous posts, we looked into some of the best online courses for HTML5 game devs of all levels of expertise.
Today, we want to pay tribute to another medium, which often gets unjustly overlooked: books! There are many hidden gems to be found along the bookshelves that will help you get acquainted with game design, programming, game writing, and many other skills that would look fantastic on your resume. Let’s cut to the chase and jump right into the standout reads that will guide you through the nooks and crannies of game development!
Game Design and Narrative
One book we feel deserves the first mention is Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Kotaku’s Jason Schreier.
In this captivating read, the author recounts the stories behind developing some of the most well-known games of our time, such as Diablo III, Stardew Valley, Destiny, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. It covers the various challenges during the development of these titles, from technical difficulties to marketplace demands. It covers the different challenges during the development of these titles, from technical problems to marketplace demands, and demonstrates how many of these roadblocks can be overcome with creative solutions.
In her Game Design Workshop, Tracy Fullerton talks about game theory, prototyping, conceptualizing, testing, tuning, iterating, and making your game perfect. The author successfully pulled off a book that is not too technical but furnishes every detail required by a newbie to write their own game. The book provides a solid foundation and a stepping stone for a professional gaming career.
Next up, we have Evan Skolnick’s Video Game Storytelling. It’s among the best gateways to video game narrative, showing aspiring writers how to advance their creative vision while communicating it effectively across large development teams.
The book is divided into two parts. The first, “Basic Training,” is about storytelling elements: conflict, structure, character, and arcs. These are the elements of storytelling as applied to game creation. The second part is titled “In the Trenches.” Here Skolnick describes the managerial aspects of actual game development, including the composition and function of the team, all the while paying particular attention to how the story comes together as the game progresses and how each team member makes that happen.
Game Technology and Programming
Let’s begin with a great beginner-level read, Andy Harris’ HTML5 Game Development for Dummies.
Fun yet surprisingly informative, this book, illustrated in full color, will be taking you step by step through the basics of HTML5 and using this tech to build interactive games with 2D graphics, video, database capabilities, and plenty of action. Learn to create sports and adventure games, pong games, board games, and more for mobile and the web.
The next book from this category is aimed at developers who already have some experience in creating games. Enter: Pro HTML5 Games by Aditya Ravi Shankar. This book will help you master advanced HTML5 game programming using JavaScript. Led by the author, an experienced programmer himself, you’ll create two full-fledged HTML5 games: a strategic puzzle game and an RTS, complete with units, buildings, pathfinding, AI, and multiplayer support.
Whether you are a database engineer or a web developer, with Zarrar Chishti’s Cross Over to HTML5 Game Development, you’ll find out how to take your current coding skills and repurpose them for game development.
After reading the first chapter, you’ll immediately see encouraging results. Further along, you will try your hand at managing a complex and fascinating project envisioned exclusively for this book.
This selection of books may seem modest in size, but it is more than enough to enrich your skillset and empower you to develop your first HTML5 game. That’s not to say that there aren’t way more fantastic works out there. Some of them go much deeper into specifics, such as certain frameworks or game mechanics — perhaps we’ll talk about more game dev books down the line.
Developing a game can feel scary and complicated, but there’s no need to rush it: read up, practice, and take your time! Once you’re ready to show off your work, check out our Developer’s Guide to release your title on our platform for millions of players to enjoy. Yandex Games will publish, host, and promote your game for free without any hidden caveats.
