The creation of this page was inspired by the The Mathematical Movie Database and by Alex Kasman’s MathFiction website. In the last few decades, video games became the most important entertainment media. So it’s proper to think about creating a database of video games that are mathematical in nature or make some type of reference to mathematics or are connected to mathematics in some way. I’ll probably include some web-based gamified interactive math simulations.
The math movies and fiction mentioned in the databases above, recreational math books ( by Martin Gardner or Boris A. Kordemsky), Pi day celebrations and distributive math projects (see BOINC projects) had some success in bringing math culture outside of normal math school classes or math related professions. Video games , due to their interactive nature, have an even greater potential of creating a fun math culture that goes beyond edutainment. Johan Huizinga made the case that we are Homo Ludens ( Man the Player), so I think that video games have the potential to be the greatest educational tools. But even if a video game is not meant to educate, a math reference can stir some interest in mathematics. This is why a video game doesn’t have to be an edutainment game to be on this list.
On MobyGames you can search for Math/Logic games, but I want this list to be more curated. Also, MobyGames limits the number of pages you can see unless you have a premium account.
Mathematical Games
This section contains video games where math plays a more central role in the plot or the mechanics of the game.
Delearnia: Fractions of Hope – a story driven adventure and puzzle platformer that integrates fractions into the game mechanics. The game was made by an indie Finnish developer. There is a version for Android.
Donkey Kong Jr. Math – it’s considered one of the worst NES games. Some people say it’s much better when it’s played with 2 players. The game is praised by Shigeru Miyamoto in one of his oldest interviews.
Engare – a puzzle game and drawing tool made by the indie Iranian developer Mahdi Bahrami. The puzzles are inspired by Islamic art. I discovered this game due to a blog post from Open Culture.
EQUALINE – a calculation puzzle video game.
Euclidea – is an app that gamifies Euclidean constructions. You get more points if you can complete the constructions using the least amount of moves. The developer also makes other math related apps.
Futoshiki – If you are tired of Sudoku or nonograms, you can try futoshiki puzzle games. Like Sudoku, a solved futoshiki puzzle is a Latin square.
Golden Loft – A VR walking simulator where you walk inside a house and learn about the golden ratio and the Fibonacci numbers.
Nonograms/Picross – I became aware of nonogram puzzles due to Mario’s Super Picross on Nintendo Switch Online. It was one of my most played games before I gave my Switch away.
PhET Interactive Simulations – gamified interactive simulations hosted by the University of Colorado Boulder.
SUMICO – The Numbers Game – a number puzzle game that has good reviews.
SURREALISTa Game – Tribute to Giorgio de Chirico – a walking simulator where you can explore paintings by Giorgio de Chirico. De Chirico incorporated mathematics in his paintings. The game even showcases “The Mathematicians” painting. You can read “METAPHYSICAL MATHEMATICS” by Jole de Sanna to see how de Chirico incorporated mathematics into his paintings.
Tandis – the second geometric puzzle game made by the Iranian developer Mahdi Bahrami.
Mathematical Reference
This is the section for video games that contain math references, but math doesn’t play an important role in the mechanics or the plot of the game.
Deus Ex – Some of the characters make some references to mathematics. There is the Bob Page quote ““A cure? A cure!? Do you have any idea how easy it will be for me to make a new virus? All I have to do is find a very large prime number and multiply.” Tracer Tong mentions that gray’s Death molecular structure is made of multiples of 17 and 23.
Disco Elysium– has a skill called Visual Calculus. The skill seem to be about recreating a crime scene in your mind. The name of the skill is interesting, since there is an approach for solving integral calculus problems called Visual calculus that was developed by Mamikon A. Mnatsakanian. I don’t know if the name of the skill was inspired by Mamikon’s visual calculus.
Sid Meier’s Civilization – mathematics appears in the technology tree. I am not familiar with the game, but mathematics seems to have “alphabet” and “masonry” as prerequisites. Mathematics seems to be a prerequisite technology for astronomy and university.
Stellar Blade – in the game there are 2 arithmetic puzzles. You can win a Queen of Arithmetic Badge if you solve the 2nd puzzle.
Street Fighter 6 – there is a puzzle that asks you what is 2^6x3x643.
The Longest Journey – the protagonist April Ryan uses a calculator to defeat the alchemist Roper Klacks in an arithmetical contest.
The Sumerian Game – probably the first edutainment video game and the ancestor of strategy and management video games. The original game was created in the 60s and it was used to teach students math, economy and history. Andrea Contato recreated the game and wrote a book on the subject (you get the book if you purchase on Steam “The Sumerian Game – Supporter Pack”).