The canvas element is a new and exciting element in HTML5. It literally allows you to draw things with JavaScript programming within this area, side-stepping the DOM altogether. Since the canvas draws an image, it has to be constantly updated in order to be able to interact with it.

HTML5CanvasTutorials.com has a set of basic tutorials with code to get you started. You can even play around inside the window with the code, you can see changes on the area where the code appears in the canvas directly. You can play around with the code and if it doesn’t work — refresh the page and start over.

http://www.lostdecadegames.com created this post on their site which looks informative. You can even download the complete code from GitHub.

BillMill.org looks to be the page of a programmer. He has a few blogs and projects. The link I put in here goes directly to his canvas tutorial which utilizes jQuery instead of straight “vanilla” JS like the two up above.

TheCodePlayer.com appears to have some great tutorials including this one that I found: snake game walkthrough. This takes you step by step through how to make the game with canvas and jQuery.

Tutorials can be great ways to learn how to code something for yourself! I suggest you give these a try if you are interested in using the canvas element to create games.