Citizen Science Games on the Timeline of Quantum Games

TL;DR

This paper reviews quantum physics-related citizen science games, explores their connection to quantum computer games, and discusses future prospects driven by citizen science, quantum computer evolution, and open development events.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of existing quantum games related to citizen science and examines their development, influence, and future directions in the context of quantum computing.

Findings

Quantum games are shaped by serious applications, quantum computer evolution, and open development events.

Citizen science significantly influences the design and development of quantum games.

Future prospects include collaborative projects, human-machine collaboration, and open access quantum computers.

Abstract

This article provides an overview of existing quantum physics-related games, referred to as \textit{quantum games}, that serve citizen science research in quantum physics. Additionally, we explore the connection between citizen science and \textit{quantum computer games}, games played on quantum computers. The information presented is derived from academic references and supplemented by diverse sources, including social media publications, conference presentations, and blog posts from research groups and developers associated with the presented games. We observe that the current landscape of quantum games is shaped by three distinct driving forces: the serious application of games, the evolution of quantum computers, and open game development events such as \textit{Quantum Game Jams}. Notably, citizen science plays an influential role in all three aspects. The article points to existing design guides for citizen science quantum games and views future prospects of citizen science projects and quantum games through collaborative endeavours, human-machine collaboration, and open access quantum computers.