James Wooton at the 2019 Quantum Wheel game jam in Finland.
The Digital Equipment Corporation began producing the PDP-1 in 1959. By 1962, someone had used the million-dollar computer to create a videogame: Spacewar!. It wasn’t the first videogame, but it was the first that could be moved to other computers. And ‘Quantum Tennis For Two’ doesn’t make such a good headline. Spacewar! even comes with an exclamation mark.
The point is, give a scientist millions of dollars’ worth of computing equipment and they will try to use it to play games; and that’s true even today, as IBM researchers developing quantum computers have discovered. Today, you can play Battleships on IBM’s cloud-controlled quantum processor, if you have an account to use it and the right software.
As you might expect, Quantum Battleships differs slightly from the simple hit or miss mechanics of the classic game we’ve all played while on a wet summer holiday in Wales. Noise within the quantum system is interpreted as the effect of weather on the battleships, rolling with the waves and wind and therefore becoming harder to hit. Each battleship is represented by a pair of Qubits, which don’t talk to one another during the game, but nonetheless know each other’s state through quantum entanglement. ‘Bombs’ are a mathematical operation that can affect the degree with which they agree with one another, from which you can work out damage. It’s presented simply, but it’s extremely complex.
QiskitBlocks by James Weaver is an introduction to quantum computing using the open source Minetest engine.
YOU SUNK MY BATTLESHIP
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
SCREENBOUND
How a 5D platformer went viral two months into development
OLED GAMING MONITORS
A fresh wave of OLED panels brings fresh options, greater resolutions and makes for even more impressive gaming monitors
CRYSIS 2
A cinematic FPS with tour de force visuals.
PLOD OF WAR
SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE 2 fails to find a new path for its hero
GALAXY QUEST
HOMEWORLD 3 is a flashy, ambitious RTS, but some of the original magic is missing
FAR REACHING
Twenty years ago, FAR CRY changed the landscape of PC gaming forever.
THY KINGDOM COME
SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE is the culmination of decades of FromSoftware RPGs, and a gargantuan finale for ELDEN RING
KILLING FLOOR 3
Tripwire Interactive's creature feature is back
IMPERFECTLY BALANCED
Arrowhead says HELLDIVERS 2 balancing patches have 'gone too far'