Mathematical game

The subject of Mathematical games (also known as recreational mathematics) covers both the mathematics of games, and playing games with mathematics. Both fields are deeply interconnected with one another, and with computer science.

The Journal of Recreational Mathematics is the biggest publication on this topic.

Mathematical Games was the title of a long-running column on the subject by Martin Gardner in Scientific American, which inspired several new generations of mathematicians and scientists to take an interest in mathematical recreations.

Mathematics of games

• Game theory
• Conway's game theory and surreal numbers

Playing games with mathematics

The foremost popularizers of recreational mathematics in recent years have been

• Martin Gardner
• Douglas Hofstadter
• John Conway

Other figures in recreational mathematics history have included:

• Henry Dudeney
• Piet Hein
• Sam Loyd

Specific mathematical games

• Dots and boxes
• Eight queens puzzle
• Conway's Game of Life
• Game of Hex
• Hexaflexagons
• Knight's Tour
• Nim
• Soma cube
• Game of sprouts
• Squaring the square
• Tangram

References:

• Journal of Recreational Mathematics
• http://www.mathpuzzle.com/ by Ed Pegg, Jr.
• The Unreasonable Utility of Recreational Mathematics by David Singmaster
• Profile of John Conway

Bibliography [external link]:

• http://bruichladdich.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/mathrecsFolder/books.html