Probably do not buy this until after their other book for making video games first. This definitely isn't very beginner level (Though you could probably follow along, it just would be frustrating and take longer to get). Other than that you really do get to make all the game clones you want. I love this book.

If your looking for a paper, printed copy of a website, then this is for you. Although the paper quality is bad, too thin.

I can't recommend this, as the book quality just isn't good enough, and there's no added benefit of the book compared to the free website viewing.

I would not have purchased if I knew this was a direct copy from the web.

Das Buch setzt nur recht geringfügige Programmierkenntnisse voraus. Dennoch sollte man erste Kenntnisse schon haben.

Mir hat das Buch sehr geholfen, um in in das Programmieren von Videospielen einzusteigen. Zudem war es auch recht gut geschrieben und an manchen Stellen sogar humorvoll - und damit alles andere als trocken. Tolles Buch. Kann ich jedem empfehlen, der auch mal versuchen will, ein kleines Spiel zu programmieren.

il libro è molto intuitivo e vale il prezzo d'acquisto. Tratta varie tematiche tra cui la realizzazione di semplici giochi. Lo consiglio per chi ha già un pò di conoscenza di python anche se il libro fa alcuni cenni che però ovviamente sono esaustivi per comprendere pienamente le basi che stanno dietro la programmazione. Si possono fare giochi come Mario Bross in 2D e anche con questo tipo di giochi vedrete quante righe di programmazione stanno dietro ad un omino che salta e corre. Cmq buon divertimento.

You know. I really enjoy this book. Al writes a great book; it is an enjoyable read. This prompted me to buy his other book - Invent your Own Computer Games with Python. Buy them both - you won't be disappointed. The quality of the book (Paper, cover, typeset) is very readable and high-quality for a computer book, which makes it a good library addition. Also, you can get the digital edition free, and lots of code/etc from website - so very good value.

Al presents python and pygame concepts in context of re-creating several typical games - like tetris, memory, othello, wormy, etc. Overall excellent pygame book. Pairs well with the rasperry pi computer... hint hint, nudge nudge. ( The games featured in this book are installed on raspberry pi stock image.. )

Honestly it's more fun than slogging through the pygame website, and example code. Pygame and this book allow you to quickly put together some pretty 'low tech' fun and easy games.

Technically:

The book quickly introduces you to core display concepts like surfaces, drawing shapes, colors, blitting graphics, and playing sounds. Then it guides you through 'event handling' concepts over the course of several games. You will be up and running quickly making your own games with sound/graphics/event handling.

So, really a good intro / even intermediate intro / to pygame, which perhaps doesn't touch on pygame's more advanced topics very deeply. Focuses well on game design concepts, but doesn't get extremely deep into every bell and whistle of pygame, which to me was a good thing, and kept the book understandable and concise. It is not a 'reference' type book, and advanced pygame topics were not included.

The book begins well but then puts up very steep learning curve

With full Python 3 source code and many kinds of games to choose from, this is an ideal way to learn how to create your own computer games using Python. I don't think you could rely solely on this book to learn the language, it really isn't structured for that purpose, but there are plenty of 'introduction to Python 3' books out there to buy as companions.

Installing the Pygame module (by downloading from the Internet) may not be as easy as the book makes out - it's necessary to align the Python and Pygame release versions exactly (and 32 bit does not equal 64 bit!). A bit of Googling helps and the author can be emailed (and is very helpful) in case of difficulties.