Making video games should be a fun way to learn how to program in Silverlight, right? Yep, that's right!
I compiled a list of links to tutorials, blogs, open source games, and labs about learning to build video games in Silverlight. Below is my list, along with my comments about the various resources.
The best tutorial I found was written by Bill Reiss from Blue Rose Games and Silverlight Games 101. He is an MVP in Client App Dev. He made a fancy imitation of Bubble Breaker (a Same Game clone) called Dr. Popper. His tutorial walks you through remaking the game Asteroids while explaining Silverlight concepts and video game concepts like sprites, game loops, keyboard input, particles, vectors, and collision detection. He started updating his original Silverlight 1.1 tutorial to comply with Silverlight 2. The Silverlight 1.1 tutorial still covers more topics than the Silverlight 2 tutorial. I would suggest starting with the Silverlight 2 posts and then going back to read the Silverlight 1.1 posts he hasn't upgraded yet. That will give you the least headaches, but still allow you to learn all he has to teach! The Silverlight 1.1 posts will give you headaches because they do not work with Silverlight 2. Though the tutorial doesn't yet teach you how to finish building the game, he gives you almost enough to figure it out yourself. For an even better learning experience, compare Bill's approach with Andy Beaulieu's Asteroids remake.
Mike Snow from Microsoft also started a Silverlight 2 game tutorial. Mike's tutorial walks you through making a game called Silverlight Fireball. You can see the game board in Part IV and a character in Part VII. He still has several Parts left to write, so you do not get the satisfaction of finishing the game. One exciting aspect of this game is that it will be multiplayer.
The Farseer Physics Engine has been used to make some compelling Silverlight screens. You can find this open source project on CodePlex. Also visit the Farseer Games blog.
The Silverlight.net Hands-On Lab "Dynamic animations using the managed Animation API in Silverlight 2" (available on the Labs page or directly from Microsoft downloads) teaches you how to make a lawn mowing simulation. The final product of the demo is kind of boring, but the concept has potential. Mads from Laumania said that there was another PopTheBubble MouseEvents tutorial, but it appears to be missing now.
The folks at Dr. Dobbs wrote a Silverlight 1.0 tutorial for making a bricks game, SparkleBall. The tutorial is excellent, but the technology is old.
The Vertigo Software Lab has several sample applications that you can download and examine the source code.
Andy Beaulieu did not write a tutorial, but he was kind enough to share the source for his nice looking games Silverlight Rocks and Destroy All Invaders. He also wrote some blogs worth reading:
Cameron Albert also blogs about making Silverlight Games.
For 3D graphics engines, check out the CodePlex projects for Kit3D and Balder.
Of course, there is also Chris Bowen's Index of Silverlight Games (from June 2007). Many of the games in his index are open source.
There you have it. That's a lot of information to get through. Lots of sample applications, tutorials, and people actively pushing the bounds. Want motivation to build your own game? DevX and Microsoft just announced the RIA Run Competition to create a game in Silverlight 2 by May 15, 2008. Good luck!