Mathematical Games suitable for undergraduates

Question

I am looking for mathematical games for an undergraduate `maths club' for interested students. I am thinking of things like topological tic-tac-toe and singularity chess. I have some funding for this so it would be nice if some of these games were available to purchase, although I am open to making the equipment myself if necessary.

So the question is: what are some more examples of games that should be of interest to undergraduates in maths?

Maybe some of these http://www.brainbashers.com/logicpuzzles.asp — Amzoti, Aug 08 '13 at 12:58

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 08 '13 at 12:53

3

I like Nim, and Dots and Boxes (which has an entire book written about it by Berlekamp).

answered Aug 08 '13 at 12:53

Trurl

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score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 08 '13 at 12:33

2

Perhaps Hex/Nash? I've seen some quite elaborate boards, although they are often (always?) hand-crafted. The link to math would be Nash's non-constructive proof, Nash's life and work, and maybe analysis of connection games in general.

answered Aug 08 '13 at 12:33

joeA

1,549

Note that my "board" consists of a bunch of hex nuts (enough for the desired board size) and white/black marbles, all in a bag. – joeA Aug 08 '13 at 12:37

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 08 '13 at 12:41

2

Set is a favourite of mine - it's really easy to pick up, and is great for the logical people.

answered Aug 08 '13 at 12:41

Sp3000

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 08 '13 at 12:46

Ticket to Ride is a very easy game to learn and can lead to some interesting discussions of graph theory. On a more bitter note, a game of Settlers of Catan never fails to provide a wonderful example of the difference between theoretical and empirical probability.

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 08 '13 at 16:24

There's a few mathematical/logical games that the WFF 'N Proof people have out there. I won't link to Equations, because I think that game least likely to come as interesting for undergraduates (but maybe I'm wrong).

I've only played WFF 'N Proof. But, I will say that it teaches you propositional calculus and helps you to construct your own logical systems.

They have a game called On Sets which helps you learn set theory.

A Real Numbers game... which I don't think teaches you about Cauchy sequences or Dedekind cuts, but probably still has value to it.

A game called Configurations which has a sequence of geometric puzzles based on a book about Projective Geometry called The Geometry of Incidence which you can find on their website or on Amazon or possibly in your library.

They also have a solitaire topological game/puzzle called QWIK-SANE.

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 08 '13 at 17:02

0

Group twenty questions. Depending on the allowable class of groups the difficulty can be scaled.

answered Aug 08 '13 at 17:02

dls

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 09 '13 at 16:30

0

Ergo is essentially "propositional logic: the card game", and isn't terribly fun if everyone's played before, but it's cute and mathematical.

The rules are at http://catalystgamelabs.com/pdfs/Ergo_Rules_LO.pdf

answered Nov 09 '13 at 16:30

Mark S.

23,925

Mathematical Games suitable for undergraduates

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