Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic book for Flash MX, Actionscript Experts ONLY
Review: I agree with the others that this is the most advanced flash game book without exception. The book is over 620+ pages with very little fluff and no novice turorials or hand holding.If you have a firm grasp of Flash MX, Actionscripting and using Flash MX as a game platform you cannot do wrong with this book. However if you are a beginner you will not find the typical basic tutorial sections that expert users loath as a waste of print. If you have not used Flash MX extensivly I reccomend purchasing one of the other titles that do the hand holding to get yourself up to speed before you invest in Flash MX Game Design Demystified. Good book for the expert user, but not good at all for the beginner.
Rating: 
Summary: awesome!
Review: I am always skeptical about Computer Game Programming books because they usually offer very little new information or information that couldn't easily been found via Google. But as I flipped through the book in the bookstore, I discovered the veritable treasure trove of non-time-based collision routines (i.e. circle to circle and circle to line), practical descriptions of isometric representation and A*path-finding. The mathematical proof is presented for those mathematically inclined and for those "less rigerous" folks, the actionscript is included and explained. The above stuff can easily be applied to other development environments (i.e. Lingo in Director, C++ in WildTangent) and that is the greatest value of this book. It's portability. Of course, there are very specific Flash tips and hints around the limited computing power of Flash (i.e. design games to reduce collidable objects because the Flash Engine can't perform fast enough) which is valuable for those willing to learn from other's experience. Also included on the CD-ROM are sample Flash applications like a crossword puzzle, a Multiplayer game (with included Jobe's company's multiuser server) and isometric sample game. I almost wish to keep the book a secret because it is SO good but I believe Jobe deserves all the credit for delivering such a solid book so I highly recommend buying it!
Rating:
Summary: Value extends beyond Flash-Actionscipt
Review: I am always skeptical about Computer Game Programming books because they usually offer very little new information or information that couldn't easily been found via Google. But as I flipped through the book in the bookstore, I discovered the veritable treasure trove of non-time-based collision routines (i.e. circle to circle and circle to line), practical descriptions of isometric representation and A*path-finding. The mathematical proof is presented for those mathematically inclined and for those "less rigerous" folks, the actionscript is included and explained. The above stuff can easily be applied to other development environments (i.e. Lingo in Director, C++ in WildTangent) and that is the greatest value of this book. It's portability. Of course, there are very specific Flash tips and hints around the limited computing power of Flash (i.e. design games to reduce collidable objects because the Flash Engine can't perform fast enough) which is valuable for those willing to learn from other's experience. Also included on the CD-ROM are sample Flash applications like a crossword puzzle, a Multiplayer game (with included Jobe's company's multiuser server) and isometric sample game. I almost wish to keep the book a secret because it is SO good but I believe Jobe deserves all the credit for delivering such a solid book so I highly recommend buying it!
Rating:
Summary: Good book only if u are good at Maths and ActionScript
Review: I have read this book but it got really complicated towards the 300th so page so make sure u know good maths and have a good grip of Flash MX ActionScript. Otherwise, this book is pretty good.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely not for beginners
Review: I'm a graphic designer with a little bit of scripting knowledge from director. I've made quite a few simple games in director and was looking to jump into actionscripting because of its web friendliness. I understood everything for the first couple of chapters but from then on I got more and more confused. This book jumps in the deep end and unless you've got a good head for mathematics/programming I'm guessing that most people will find themselves lost. If you're looking for books to help you learn actionscripting from the start. I would recommend buying 'Macromedia Flash MX ActionScripting: Advanced Training from the Source' and 'actionscript for flash mx' together, both of which I found to be excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: I've purchased a number of Flash books (gaming or otherwise) and this is by far the best book I've purchased. I went from having a limited knowledge of actionscript to programming two completely different games within one month. And this knowledge is also useful in other aspects of Flash beyond gaming. Buy this book if you are serious about learning the deeper powers of Flash. Intermediate to Advanced users.
Rating:
Summary: First glance is good, but when you delve deeper...
Review: Let me begin by saying that I consider myself an intermediate Actionscript Programmer and have created several games with Flash, anticipating this book would assist me in my ventures. At first glance this book seems terrific. You get a large collection of games that vary in genres. Even more appealing is the multiplayer game support. But when you read more into you discover in the first chapters, most of it is understandable (even the physics and trigonometry) but even with your first game, you can run into troubles. I purchased this book interested in the multiplayer games. I had never done anything with this genre and wasn't sure how players could connect with one another. I discovered how its done, but the games are written with the author's program, Electroserver. This didn't bother me except that the demo included on the disk can only support five members at any one time. A little investigation on the site and I became more disappointed. To have the minimum on the license is 50 people for a whopping $299. Also the Tic-Tac-Toe example is a free download off this page. This made me wonder if the author was filling blank pages. The book has its high points, especially the pinball and platform game. It also has its low points, such as the rapid bombardment of Actionscript (as someone else put it, little fluff), as well as the electroserver problem.
Rating:
Summary: First glance is good, but when you delve deeper...
Review: Let me begin by saying that I consider myself an intermediate Actionscript Programmer and have created several games with Flash, anticipating this book would assist me in my ventures. At first glance this book seems terrific. You get a large collection of games that vary in genres. Even more appealing is the multiplayer game support. But when you read more into you discover in the first chapters, most of it is understandable (even the physics and trigonometry) but even with your first game, you can run into troubles. I purchased this book interested in the multiplayer games. I had never done anything with this genre and wasn't sure how players could connect with one another. I discovered how its done, but the games are written with the author's program, Electroserver. This didn't bother me except that the demo included on the disk can only support five members at any one time. A little investigation on the site and I became more disappointed. To have the minimum on the license is 50 people for a whopping $299. Also the Tic-Tac-Toe example is a free download off this page. This made me wonder if the author was filling blank pages. The book has its high points, especially the pinball and platform game. It also has its low points, such as the rapid bombardment of Actionscript (as someone else put it, little fluff), as well as the electroserver problem.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent! Good examples and lots of code.
Review: The layout of the book was very good, each section really seemed to blend into the next, building on the previous. While I'm very familiar with Flash AS, I was happy to see the sections on trig, physics and collision detection! My maths are pretty rusty and these are areas that I always struggle with. Actually having *working code* to look at is invaluable. The multi-user section was quite interesting too, with both basic chat and game examples. All the examples use ElectroServer as the backend, so there are some specifics which relate to that server only. However the ideas presented are applicable to any multi-user based game, regardless of the backend server. Anyone looking for some insights to coding a game in flash MX would not go wrong in reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic book for Flash MX, Actionscript Experts ONLY
Review: This book is what has to be the best Flash gamedev book. Period. I recommend it to anyone wanting to do a game in Flash. It's got everything you need from turning your computer into a Flash multiplayer server to creating AI systems.
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