The Mathematics of Game Design

Mathematics is integral to every aspect of game development including character and level creation, movement, player input, NPC behaviour, physics simulations, and real-time rendering. Fortunately for game designers, most of this computation is conveniently supplied by software developers and/or handled by existing game engines. However, when designing a game, lots of systems and mechanics are dependent on numbers such as weapons ranges, jump heights, experience points, damage, rewards, currency, etc., many of which can have complex inter-relationships. Although much of the math may be basic, a good understanding of the underlying equations as well as the fields of logic, probability, and statistics can be incredibly beneficial to a designer, especially when it comes to game design and balancing. This lecture will give an overview of how even the most basic knowledge of these fields can benefit a game designer.