The Mathematics in Toys and Games
MIT's Experimental Study Group offers this weekly seminar on the math hiding inside games, toys, and puzzles. Each week pairs a lecture and discussion with actual game play, so concepts get tested at the table right after they are introduced. The syllabus draws on game theory, probability, group theory, and elementary programming, using it to analyze strategy in familiar games and puzzles rather than teach any one of those fields in full. Materials are published through MIT OpenCourseWare under a Creative Commons license, free to access, with no certificate attached. The course suits anyone comfortable with basic math who wants to see probability and group theory show up in something as ordinary as a board game, and it works as a light introduction to how mathematicians think about strategy and chance before tackling a more formal game theory course.