Gamedev.js Weekly #88

Articles

Principles of HTML5 game design
Visual effects in games define their overall look and feel, and gameplay. Players are attracted to high visual quality, which generate more traffic and reach. It’s key for creating successful games and providing a lot of fun for players.
Mikołaj Stolarski and Tomasz Grajewski at Smashing Magazine

Someone stole the Princess post-mortem
Let’s code a roguelike. Should be easy, right? Oh man, I was SO wrong. A roguelike might be one of the most complex game types to code, given the amount of interactions possible between its elements.
Donpastor at Ludum Dare

Crucial lessons from 7 game jam prototypes that went commercial
Making a game from the ground up in a 48-hour period can be messy, sweaty, exhausting...and a great way to shake up your creative sensibilities.
Bryant Francis at Gamasutra

Incomplete testing punished by users
Testing is critical to a game’s success. A technical slip can spell disaster.
Scott Johnston at Spil Games

What it's like running an arcade in 2015
Many say arcades are dead. We check out a handful of locations that are keeping them alive.
Willie Clark at Polygon

Games are generators of stories
So I was reading A Theory of Fun for Game Designers and one idea particularly resonated with me. Idea is: “Games are like story generators”.
Kos blog

Showcasing your game on the Twitch stage without looking like an idiot
Your game's been selected to showcase at a big livestream at a show. Congratulations! This is your moment of glory.
Alex Nichiporchik at Gamasutra

The Indie Bubble revisited (or, are we all totally-doomed, or just regular-doomed?)
Yeah, yeah, I know. Another stupid article about the Indie Bubble, or the #indiepocalypse, or whatever dumb thing they’re calling it today.
Jeff Vogel at Blogspot

Tutorials

js13kGames tutorial – how to make a text game with HTML5
A text game uses the API of your brain to render it’s contents directly into your visual cortex, saving the developer lots of time.
Pablo Farias Navarro at Zenva Academy

Building a Pairs game in 120 lines of code with Phaser
This tutorial is my attempt to gain deeper knowledge by building, experimenting, researching, refactoring and finally documenting a relatively simple game of pairs.
Wayne Ellis at Medium

How to create an idle clicker game with Phaser
Also known as clicker and incremental games, these type of games have you clicking something repeatedly or idling to gain some form of currency which you then use to buy upgrades.
Ben Sparks at Zenva Academy

HTML5 Physics sling with predictive trajectory like Trick Shot iOS game using Phaser and Box2D
It’s a game where all you have to do is throw a ball into a box, simple, a minimalist physics puzzler with 90 levels and an infinite supply of bouncy balls to get that perfect shot.
Emanuele Feronato's blog

Competitions

js13kGames ends in just two days

Scirra's Underground Jam

Tools

PixiJS filter playground

ShaderFrog - WebGL shader editor and composer

Demos

Bad City: a GTA-style multiplayer browser game

Isometric cubes connected by springs - click and drag and watch the waves

Games

GitHub repo with HTML5 version of StarCraft game