DSU math professor publishes second board game
November 3, 2025
Dakota State University Assistant Professor of Mathematics Justin Schroeder, has recently published his second board game, Storybook Saga, through Gamefound.
While living abroad for several years, Schroeder and his wife began playing board games together, which eventually inspired him to start creating his own games. Over the years, he’s made six or seven games he’s shared with others, and another 20 to 30 that have never seen the light of day.
“It might not be surprising to learn that many games rely heavily on probability and managing the odds of rolling dice or drawing cards,” Schroeder explained.
The first game Schroeder published is called 7th Inning Stretch, a baseball-themed game that uses dice rolling to simulate baseball games. Schroeder simulated baseball games with dice as a kid, but added cards for individual players and teams to provide the game with more choices throughout, similar to a general manager or coach for the players.
The game, which was published through crowdfunding last year, was delivered to supporters this summer. The publisher of the first game reached back out and expressed interest in a similar game with different subject matter to appeal to a broader audience.
That inspired the creation of Storybook Saga, which features various fairy tale characters now in the public domain.
The experience of playing games helps teach strategy and allows players to try different actions, revising them based on the results, while encouraging critical thinking and research.
Casual game enthusiasts may be surprised to learn how many spreadsheets there are behind every card or board game.
Dakota State’s mathematics for board games course was initially what drew Schroeder to the open position at DSU a few years ago.
“One of the reasons I applied for the job at DSU was the math for games course, when I saw that my eyes lit up,” he said. “That class is tailor-made for me.”
He introduces the subject matter to students by starting with a simple demonstration, such as drawing a card from a deck or rolling one or two dice to see what can happen. He then directs the students to find the different ways to measure the outcome, and consider what type of results are highly likely or highly unlikely.
“We start out with no game, no theme, there’s nothing behind it, just the very basic question,” Schroeder said. “As we go along, we gradually introduce slightly more complex situations and a little bit of the story side of what the player is trying to accomplish.”
Many of the students in his class are video game design students, who can occasionally find it challenging to start without a visual idea of a game already in place.
“I start with here’s mechanically the thing I want to happen, and what theme makes sense for this situation,” he said.
His advice for those interested in developing games is to just try it with the understanding that the first games may not be very good or fun. Schroeder also wants people to know that game design requires a lot of skill sets, such as art, math, writing, and marketing.
“You can find your place in game design, there’s room for you somewhere,” he said.