This book, as the title suggests, is about Python programming using the library Pygame to create simple video games. It is an eclectic collection of topics introduced at a rather superficial level. Topics include Python programming, of course, but there are side currents along the way to topics such as first-, second-, and third-generation programming languages, followed by more Python programming, a bit on object classes, some computer graphics concepts, some concepts for video games, and, of course, Pygame, which is the Python library used in creating video games.

There is a lot of good information in the book, including lots of code examples. One could easily work his or her way through the book by just typing in the sample code. The problem is that there isn’t much beyond the sample code. For example, the author points out the difference between the statement print (2 + 3) and the statement print (“2 + 3”) by showing the different results. But no mention is made of the fact that one is integer addition while the other is a string. And no mention is made of data types. This is typical of the book. Lots of examples are provided with almost no theory to provide a context for the examples. Another good example can be found in the chapter on object classes, where inheritance is introduced through code examples, but no mention is made of encapsulation or polymorphism. This is even more striking because the example provided reveals that Python does not actually support encapsulation; no mention is made of either encapsulation or Python’s position on it.

With the abundance of code and the absence of any theory or context, one might conclude that the book was designed for a freshman programming class, and further evidence for that can be found in the fact that the author says in the introduction that he is a computer science professor. The book feels like course notes that were cleaned up and turned into a book. Hopefully, in the actual course, a little more theory was provided; those that want to use this book for such a class would have to provide their own. For those who would like to learn more about creating small video games in Python, don’t mind the lack of background, and don’t mind working through code examples, this book might be what they are looking for.

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