Quantum Cats is Creating Traction

Monday, October 5, 2015

After the IQC Open House at the University of Waterloo on October 3rd, Quantum Cats is receiving some incredible recognition. Launched by the Institute for Quantum Computing and The Games Institute, this Angry Birds-style game aims to help people better understand some of the core concepts of quantum science.

Collaborating with IQC and their students on this game was ideal. IQC brought the scientific knowledge and we brought the gaming knowledge. Together, we created a multi-disciplinary team that came up with a game that shares a few complex ideas with the world. The result demonstrates the effectiveness of fun games as a teaching tool, something The Games Institute is committed to. - Director, Neil Randall.

Players launch various cats and use their specified quantum behaviours to break open boxes to save tiny kittens. The game uses cats with the behaviours of four key quantum terms – classical, superposition, tunnelling and uncertainty – to save the kittens trapped in boxes in the game’s world.

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This touch-screen action game was spearheaded by James Wallace of the School of Public Health and Health Systems here at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Wallace was the principle investigator for this project, with Director of The Games Institute, Dr. Neil Randall as key supervisor. Conceptualisation and design was aided by PhD student Victor Cheung, programming was completed by Mike Brown and University of Waterloo undergraduate student Jagger Nast. The beautiful and fun artwork for the game was provided by Keith McLean. This collaboration with the team at IQC has truly brought the educational power of games to the spotlight.

“This game is a great way for people to become familiar with concepts of quantum science” said Tobu Day-Hamilton, the associate director, communications and strategic initiative at IQC. “We wanted to take science that people think is hard and make it fun. Working with The Games Institute, we were able to create something that exceeded our expectations.”

Quantum Cats has created traction online as well as in the university community. With quantum technologies emerging in research labs around the world these technologies promise to transform how we work, live, and play. Quantum Cats provides players a way to grasp the concepts of quantum science that many people often find confusing or unintuitive.

This game is available on the Google Play store for android users and will be available soon in iTunes and BlackBerry World.