Games Based on Knot Mosaics

Abstract

This theses will examine the knot mosaic system developed by Samuel Lomonaco and Louis Kauffman and apply the concept to playable games. In the original work, Lomonaco and Kauffman describe a tile set that can be used to represent knots, but the effectiveness of the tile set in terms of building knots and teaching readers about the mosaic system was not examined. The purpose of this theses will be to define a modified version of the knot mosaic system that allows for users to build the mosaic piece by piece, introduce basic knot transformations, and create games that can be played to teach the players about knot mosaics. The final result will examine the games' abilities to teach players about the subject and measure how enjoyable the games are to play based on player feedback, as well as propose ideas for improvements upon the game rules and mechanics.