Connect Four

On the Mathematics Hidden Behind Games

This paper by Yannick Rochat and Sophie Bémelmans, presented at DiGRA 2026, argues that mathematics is pervasive in game design yet rarely examined within game studies scholarship, which the authors frame as a "disciplinary divide" between mathematical research on games and humanities-oriented game studies.

• The paper argues mathematics is pervasive in game design yet rarely examined in game studies, which it frames as a "disciplinary divide" between mathematical research on games and humanities-oriented game studies.
• The authors call for video game researchers to treat mathematical concepts as tools for creation, not only for optimisation or analysis, and for research integrating mathematical models, design practice, and player experience.
• The historical overview traces mathematical play from ancient games of chance and territory-capture games through early modern recreational problems such as Euler's Seven Bridges of Königsberg and Kirkman's Schoolgirls problem, which contributed to graph theory and combinatorial design.