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Is Math a Must For Game Programming?

We sometimes hear "You don't need math to be a developer", and "I'm a developer, and I don't need or use math"

Are those statements true for certain types of developers? Yes.
Are those statements true for all types of developers? No.

Do more game developmes require math? Yes.
Do all game developers require math? No.

Is becoming comfortable with common "game maths" a good idea? Yes.

Programming games can be both fun and lucrative.
What skills do we need to become game developers?
Game programming can be demanding, there are many skills that we need, is mathematics among them?

Is Math A Requirement For Game Development

Game development is a big field; There are many roles within the field.
There's a big difference between developing the next big 3d Mario game vs the next Scrabble game. 2d vs 3d, puzzle vs platformer, there is a lot to consider.
We can imagine a situation where we wouldn't use much math, however, even in those roles, an understanding of math would help us. Not understanding math would limit our options.

Mathematics is a great tool for expanding our options.

What Kind of Math Should We Know for Game Development

We may ask "how much math do we need?"
Depends on what role we are aiming for, but we don't need a Ph.D. in mathematics to become game developers;
We just need some basics.

Fundamentals like these:

We should be familiar with basic algebra, basic linear algebra, and basic trig.
Some roles require a knowledge of Physics as well.

Won't the Game Engine Do the Math for Us?

In some cases, yes.
In some cases, no.

We need, at least, enough knowledge to know when to use which function.
When the game engines do the math, we still benefit from knowing what is happening.
Sometimes, we need to tweak and/or optimize the default code.
Sometimes, we need to write our own layer of code.

We shouldn't rely on a game engine, we should know what we're doing.

Conclusion

We should become comfortable with the basics of math, and strengthen the areas that are needed as we go.

In most cases, the amount of math we have to be comfortable with isn't overwhelming; We can't be reluctant to learn.

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