https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=y9y7jozi0l76bb82

That survey course in conceptual mathematics seemed like a good idea at the start of the term – no graded homework, no midterm exams – just an oral final at the end.

But now that final is tomorrow morning. After months of procrastination you’ve got one night left to learn enough to pass the course. You might even be desperate enough to try one of your roommate’s sketchy memory pills.

Desperate to remember enough maths to pass your upcoming finals, you take some “memory pills” that turn out to be extremely powerful hallucinogens.

So begins your journey from the dawn of mathematics to the present, a rampage among parables and thought experiments. You’ll meet famous mathematicians, solve age-old riddles, and it’s possible you might learn a little along the way.

A Beauty Cold and Austere doesn’t give you problems you have to sit down and work out; I wouldn’t be recommending this if it did. Rather, it requires you to know maths in the same way that another interactive fiction game might require you to know literature or history. It doesn’t give you homework, it has you use your knowledge. It’s not a textbook so much as a pop science book.

Fortunately, there’s a robust context-based hint system. There’s also a great optional feature which evaluates items in your inventory and tells you whether you’ll need them again.

Clever, frequently hilarious, and a gift for maths-lovers and puzzle-lovers alike.

Play in browser or download Glulx file (latter option requires Glulx-capable interpreter).