Free eBook teaches us how to play fighting games

A prominent member of the fighting game community has written a book designed to help newcomers learn how to play fighting games.

From Masher to Master: The Educated Video Game Enthusiast's Fighting Game Primer (Super Book Edition) is a free eBook written by Patrick Miller with the help of the likes of experts Seth Killian and Mike Zaimont.

It runs through everything from basic execution and combos up to more advanced strategies, such as mixups and mindgames. In Miller's words: "It's kind of like having a friend who is pretty good at Street Fighter sit down and show you the ropes, except you don't have to worry about boring her with your scrubbiness or buying her a burrito."

Miller said he wrote the book so people who've always wanted to learn how to play fighting games but didn't know how no longer had an excuse, and in a bid to grow the fighting game community.

"I think that learning to play fighting games are honestly one of the best things that have ever happened to me, and I want more people to share this experience," he said in a post on fighting game website Shoryuken, "but they're so darn hard to learn that it's hard to get new blood in."

The book launches just in time for the 2014 Evolution Championship Series - the biggest tournament in fighting games.