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Code Your First Game: Arcade Classic in JavaScript on Canvas

Name: Code Your First Game: Arcade Classic in JavaScript on Canvas
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.5 (29102 reviews)

4.5(29,102)402k students

Korshub's take

Overview

This course guides you through programming your first game — an arcade-style ball-and-paddle project — using JavaScript and HTML5 canvas. Each step comes with downloadable source code matching exactly what you should have at that point, so you're never stuck without a reference. No special software is required beyond a text editor and a web browser.

Who it's for

It's built for complete beginners to game programming who want a fast, concrete starting point rather than an open-ended "build anything" brief. The instructor, a private game development trainer, uses this exact material to get new clients up and running quickly.

Key takeaways

Core gameplay programming concepts through a classic, well-understood project
A complete understanding of every line of code you write, not just copy-pasted snippets
Fundamentals that transfer to other languages like C#, Java, C++, or Python

By skipping the need for custom art and keeping scope tight, the course is designed to be finished in hours or a weekend, giving you real momentum for future projects.

About this course

At the end of this short course you'll have programmed your first game. You'll learn gameplay development fundamentals by really doing it – writing and running real code on your own machine.

Each step of the course has the source code attached exactly as it should look at that time (click "View Resources" then "Downloadable Resources"), for you to compare to or pick up from, so you can't get stuck!

Begin Your Game Programming Journey the Proven Way

"Make the simplest game possible." "Program a ball and paddle project." "Practice by first remaking something from the 1970's." All beginning developers hear this advice from more experienced peers... because it works!

By following this approach you will:

Learn design from a fun classic that people know and enjoy.
Start your practice today – now! – without waiting for an idea.
Finish your game in hours or in a weekend, not over months.
Understand every line of code used in the entire program.
Avoid distraction from searching for or creating detailed art.
Master fundamentals needed to make your own games better.

You can program this game with a normal text editor, and run it in the web browser you already have. No special software is needed.

Though you'll be coding in JavaScript for HTML5 canvas in this course, the focus is on common game programming concepts. You can later apply these same patterns to get quick results in other programming languages such as C#, Java, ActionScript 3, C++, or Python.

I'm a private game development trainer, and for clients new to gameplay programming this is exactly the material that I cover to get them started quickly. Within hours you will have finished programming your first project. This is the fastest way to get results. The momentum gained from doing this provides a solid foundation to give more advanced concepts meaning and context as you continue on in your journey of learning game development.

(HTML5 Logo in the course image is by W3C, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.)