Calculus Legacy

A narrative-driven, legacy-style (physical) board game to discover the world of calculus.

What is Calculus Legacy?

Calculus Legacy is a physical, campaign-style board game in which students learn calculus through a connected series of seven game sessions. Students work in small teams, take on different roles, make decisions, solve mathematical problems and gradually build their own shared game world.

Rather than adding a game after the mathematics, the game is the learning environment: calculus problems, collaboration, narrative, game mechanics and reflection are deliberately integrated. The design builds on game-based learning and Ludo Didactics, while connecting closely to Maastricht University’s Problem-Based Learning (PBL) philosophy.

Why Calculus Legacy?

Calculus is fundamental to engineering and science, but students can experience it as abstract and disconnected from the problems for which mathematics is ultimately used.

Calculus Legacy explores a different approach: what if students could experience calculus as a collaborative problem-solving journey? The game places mathematical concepts in contextualized challenges and asks students to discuss, choose, calculate, design and reflect together. The aim is not simply to make calculus more fun, but to create an active, student-centered environment that supports engagement, collaboration and mathematical understanding.

Co-Created with students

Calculus Legacy was initiated by Martijn Boussé and Katharina Schneider and developed together with Max Sondag and a team of student assistants, including Witold Sabath, Mélissa Chen, Sarvesh Ramesh Kumar and others from the BSc Circular Engineering.

Co-creation and iterative playtesting have been central throughout the project. Students contributed to the narrative, assignments, mechanics and game design, with successive playtests used to simplify and improve the experience.

A special thanks goes to the students, program director, and staff of the BSc Circular Engineering at Maastricht University, where much of the development, playtesting and first full-scale piloting took place. In 2025–2026, Calculus Legacy was integrated into the first-year Calculus course and piloted alongside the standard tutorial format.

Supported by the Comenius Program

Calculus Legacy was funded through a Comenius Teaching Fellow grant from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, administered by NRO.

The Comenius programme supports educational innovators in implementing evidence-informed innovations in higher education. Receiving a Comenius grant provided the opportunity to move from an experimental idea to a fully developed, implemented and evaluated learning experience.

Grant ID: https://doi.org/10.61686/HBGTM92235

Publications & Resources

Dissemination Video
A short introduction to the game, the design process, and the results.
Witold Sabath, Mélissa Chen, Katharina Schneider & Martijn Boussé
Link the to embedded video

SEFI 2025 — Workshop paper
Calculus Legacy: A Ludo-Didactical Learning Experience for Mathematics in Engineering Education
Mélissa Chen, Ramesh Kumar Sarvesh, Gavin Phillips, Katharina Schneider & Martijn Boussé.
Read the open-access paper

SEFI 2026 — Research paper
Calculus Legacy in Practice: A Pilot Study on Game-Based Learning in Undergraduate Calculus
Mélissa Chen, Witold Sabath, Max Sondag, Gavin Phillips, Katharina Schneider & Martijn Boussé.
[LINK TO PAPER - coming soon]

MathEdN — Practice contribution
Brewing Alien Beer: Calculus Legacy as a Ludo-Didactical Experiment in a First-Year Engineering Calculus Course
Witold Sabath & Martijn Boussé.
Read the MathEdN contribution

Print & Play — coming soon
We are preparing an openly available Print & Play version of Calculus Legacy, including the game materials and supporting resources for educators who want to explore or adapt the game in their own teaching.
[LINK TO PRINT & PLAY - coming soon]

Want to know more?

Interested in Calculus Legacy, game-based learning in mathematics, or using the game in your own teaching?

Contact: Martijn Boussé, m.bousse@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Department of Advanced Computing Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering Maastricht University