Book excerpt: Apple's new programming language, Swift, is fast, safe, accessible—the perfect choice for game development! Packed with best practices and easy-to-use examples, this book leads you step by step through the development of your first Swift game. The book starts by introducing Swift's best features for game development. Then, you will learn how to animate sprites and textures. Along the way, you will master the physics framework, add the player character and NPCs, and implement controls. Towards the end of the book, you will polish your game with fun menus, integrate with Apple Game Center for leaderboards and achievements, and then finally, learn how to publish your finished games to the App Store. By the end of this book, you will be able to create your own iOS games using Swift and SpriteKit.