That is the book I used to learn programming. The funny thing is that I got the book several years before I got a computer. I would in effect read through the game programmes and play them in my head - the simpler ones, that is.
I loved BASIC games listing books as a kid. I was so excited whenever a new one came into the local public library.<p>From a few years later (mid-80s) and probably aimed at a younger audience, but this was my favourite series: <a href="http://mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getcompany=usborne-hayes" rel="nofollow">http://mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getcompany=usborne-hayes</a>
I loved this book. Don't forget the "More" sequel (<a href="http://www.atariarchives.org/morebasicgames/" rel="nofollow">http://www.atariarchives.org/morebasicgames/</a>) and the Big Computer Games (<a href="http://www.atariarchives.org/bigcomputergames/" rel="nofollow">http://www.atariarchives.org/bigcomputergames/</a>) books as well. All are fun nostalgia. BTW, yes, Ahl's first book was also published as 101 Games (<a href="http://www.atariarchives.org/basicgames/" rel="nofollow">http://www.atariarchives.org/basicgames/</a>).
Some of these games come bundled with our just-released (an hour ago!) Applesoft / Integer BASIC compatible interpreter at <a href="http://discorunner.com" rel="nofollow">http://discorunner.com</a> (along with around a thousand more)
Those are all short and sweet. There were many more large games. Well, large by BASIC standards - 500-1000 lines of code was large back then. There was a Stratego-style game where you didn't take turns (capture the flag with tanks and missile launchers). There was a D&D adventure (no, not Adventure) where you had random encounters in the city, dungeon or wilderness (called AG for the initials of the author). There was an orbital-mechanics trading game called Patrol where you traded at Mercury, Venus and Earth for goods, and could do inter-system combat with other NPC ships you encountered.
Steve Wozniak made a (likely) passing reference to this book while reminiscing about writing BASIC from scratch for the original Apple:<p><a href="http://gizmodo.com/how-steve-wozniak-wrote-basic-for-the-original-apple-fr-1570573636/all" rel="nofollow">http://gizmodo.com/how-steve-wozniak-wrote-basic-for-the-ori...</a><p>Woz refers to a book named "101 Games in BASIC", which may be different from "BASIC Computer Games", but I haven't been able to confirm with certainty one way or the other. Either way, his testimonial is impressive:<p><i>The other 'bible' was a book "101 Games in BASIC." I was a fan of computer games and knew that as soon as I had a computer of my own I would want to type in all these games to play. Judging by my own feelings, I assumed that this would be a key to starting a home computer revolution.</i>
I have both that book and the red one ... I learned to program by first copying game code and then making my own. It would be years before I would understand how to make something like a competitive chess engine, but by that time my logic was quite well developed.
I like this one (<a href="http://www.atariarchives.org/basicgames/showpage.php?page=4" rel="nofollow">http://www.atariarchives.org/basicgames/showpage.php?page=4</a>). So simple and yet creates seemingly intelligent replies.
The Hammurabi game from last weeks HN front page: <a href="http://www.atariarchives.org/basicgames/showpage.php?page=78" rel="nofollow">http://www.atariarchives.org/basicgames/showpage.php?page=78</a>
I like this one (<a href="http://www.atariarchives.org/bca/" rel="nofollow">http://www.atariarchives.org/bca/</a>) -- it's basically several Oregon Trail-like games, but explains both the historical context and simulation models used in each game.
We had that book at home. I remember being totally daunted by the source code of the Star Trek program... that thing had literally HUNDREDS of lines of code!
Where I learned to program: <a href="http://www.myoldcomputers.com/museum/man/pics/vic20man.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.myoldcomputers.com/museum/man/pics/vic20man.jpg</a>