Hello Sugo of Quemix. Here is an overview of the projects currently underway in IPA's unexplored projects. By making a game that includes quantum properties, we are supposed to make two within the period. This time, I would like to introduce the first game.

Notice

If you try to explain everything such as the background to the game, the details of the rules, the explanation about quantum, etc. so that the first person can understand it, the amount will be too large, so it is a rather broken introduction. Please note. I hope you can feel only the atmosphere of what you are doing.

Also, I haven't posted the code because I'm not doing anything technically good. I haven't used a program for quantum computing such as qiskit this time (because I haven't done anything complicated enough to use it).

Contents of this article

Project Outline ――About the nature of the quantum used as the subject --Outline of game rules --Awareness

Project Outline

Develop a new game that combines the properties of quantum with fun

We aim to be something that can be played repeatedly as much as possible. It's not fun just to use overlays. We aim to be able to understand the rules of the game without knowing about quantum, and to acquire a sense of quantum through play (effort goal).

Strategy taken

Thinking about a completely new game from scratch is quite a hurdle, so I decided to create a new game by attaching quantum elements to an existing game. I also thought that knowledge of the original game would help me to understand the rules first.

Achievements so far (EPR pair discovery game)

I made an EPR pair discovery game. The project is still in progress, but as mentioned above, we are supposed to make two games, and all the games introduced this time have been completed. I implemented it with pygame and it is ready to play at my fingertips. The theme of this game is ** "Nervous breakdown + entanglement" **. It is a game to find a pair with quantum properties called an EPR pair in the manner of nervous breakdown. There are many parts where the final rule is separated from nervous breakdown, but the idea starts from here.

About the nature of the quantum used as the subject

In the EPR pair discovery game, a card gimmick containing quantum properties called a Q card will appear. The quantum elements of this work only appear in this Q card, so once you understand this, the rest is a normal game.

Q card

Normal playing cards have numbers and marks (suits) written on the front, and when you turn the playing cards face down, you can see both of them. The numbers and marks on the playing cards do not change over and over again, but the Q card has the following differences.

--There are two types of numbers, 0 and 1, and there are two types of marks, + and-. ――The front of the Q card has both numbers and marks, but you can only see one of the numbers and marks at a time. --Numbers and marks may change randomly each time you look at them

And there are the following 5 types of Q cards.

--0 card: 0 is always given for numbers, but + and-are given with 50% probability for marks. ―― 1 card: 1 is always given for the number, but + and-are given with 50% probability for the mark. -+ Card: The mark always has a +, but the numbers have a 50-50 chance of being 0 and 1. --- Card: The mark always has-, but the numbers are 0 and 1 with a 50-50 chance. --EPR card: Numbers and marks appear with a 50-50 chance. There are always two pieces in one set, and the numbers and marks always match.

(Suddenly, the words Z measurement and X measurement appear, but please forgive me because the slides are diverted.)

I will omit a detailed explanation, but the property that the results match regardless of whether you look at this number or the mark is the quantum property (quantum correlation) adopted this time.

Can you actually make a Q card?

It's a complete digression, but it's argued that this Q-card, like a quantum playing card, can't be made from plain paper, but if you use something like programmable electronic paper, you can make something that you can touch. Was the other day's interim report meeting. Let's make it together.

Outline of game rules

I will briefly explain the rules of the game from here (some details are omitted). Since the game does not convey the rules in sentences and the fun, it is best to show the demo in some way, but this time we will only introduce the rules.

State of the field

Place 4-8 Q cards in the field. There are 1 to 4 EPR pairs (2 to 8 cards) in this. For cards other than the EPR pair, 4 types of cards that are not EPR cards will be randomly placed out of the above 5 types of cards. For example, if there are 8 Q cards and 2 EPR pairs, the remaining 4 will have random Q cards (excluding EPR cards). Players do not know what type of Q card is placed. If all Q cards in the field are EPR pair cards, there are no cards randomly placed.

Actions that the player can take

This game consists of the following three actions. There is no distinction between "seeing" and "answering" in normal nervous breakdown, but the roles are clearly divided in this work.

to see --Check either the number or the mark on the selected Q card
To answer ――Declare that the selected Q card is an EPR pair, and if the answer is correct, you can get that pair.

--Additional answer --See below

Victory conditions

The player who took the ** last ** EPR pair in play wins.

Game flow

--Determine the number of players (2-4), the number of Q cards (4-8), and the number of EPR pairs (1-4) --Each player performs the following actions one by one (until the victory or defeat is decided) --Choose two from the Q cards in the field and look at the numbers or marks --You can see it up to 2 times in 1 turn (you cannot change the 2 cards you see in the 1st and 2nd times) ――Choose whether to answer the two selected above --If you do not answer, you will move to the next player at the end of the turn. --If you answer and the answer is correct, that player can make an additional answer. --If you answer and the answer is incorrect, the next turn player can make an additional answer.

Additional answer

If someone answers, you are entitled to additional answers depending on the result. This additional answer is the only mechanism in the game that creates a digital divide between players. The basic rules are the same as the regular answer, except for the following:

--The result of the additional answer can be seen only by ** players who have the additional answer **. --All players share the play results other than the additional answers equally. It's the same as the original nervous breakdown. Of course, if you answer correctly with the additional answer, the number of cards in the field will decrease, so the result will be shared with everyone, but if you fail, only the player who answered the additional answer will know the result. --Even if the answer is incorrect, the next player will not be given an additional answer. In other words, there is no risk. ――If you answer correctly with the additional answer, you can make more additional answers.

About the specifications of the additional answer

The specification of this additional answer is a little delicate in that it can be paired with honesty. There was a person who gave me personal advice on this point at the interim report meeting the other day, so it may be better to consider changing to a rule that makes more use of quantum, but within the unexplored period. Probably not possible.

The game you are aiming for

--The original gameplay of a memory game that remembers the results of seeing cards ――In this game, you will remember whether the same numbers and marks appeared, not the numbers and marks themselves. ――The game of bargaining by choosing whether or not to answer --If you answer and succeed, you can get additional information only for yourself. ――If you answer and fail, you will give additional information to the other party

Awareness

Here are some things I thought about and noticed while making the game.

About probability

This is the first problem we encounter, but when we include quanta, the element of probability comes in. Probability games (= luck games) tend to be kusoge basically, so if you add quantum elements without thinking about anything, there is a high probability that the original game will become kusoge even if it is interesting. There are many interesting games with a probabilistic factor, but in my opinion, the player's decision-making needs to be reflected in the outcome of the game. You have to design the area firmly.

Also, games that originally have no probability element (perfect information games such as Othello) are not considered to be very compatible as combined games. In these games, there is no element of luck, so it is fun to predict the behavior of the opponent and read ahead, but if the element of probability is included, that look-ahead will not be possible in the first place.

The rules get complicated

(I wrote that this is based on some knowledge of quantum theory) When adding quantum elements to the game, if you seriously do "create and measure entangled quantum states",

--Make a superposition --Entangle

Measure

You can see that it takes 3 steps like this. I think that adding each of the player's actions corresponding to these would make the rules too complicated. In other words, it is surprisingly difficult to make a flow from the classical state to the quantum state by the player's hand. In contrast to the "simple" operation of flipping cards in terms of nervous breakdown, there is a high possibility that simplicity will be lost at once when trying to add these actions. I think this can be said for all games where the actions of players such as Othello are simple in the first place. Of course, there is no problem even if it becomes a complicated rule as long as it is designed to be easy to understand.

The solution I took to this problem was that the entangled quantum state was realized from the beginning, and the player only made measurements. After the measurement, the system automatically returns to the entangled initial state, so the player's actions can be kept simple.

Compatibility with nervous breakdown

In the conventional nervous breakdown, the information on the card once seen is definite information (there is no such thing as ♣ ️ when ♠ ️ sees it next time), whereas this EPR pair is an EPR pair no matter how many times it is measured. It cannot be "confirmed" if it is (it may just happen that the results match). Also, it is possible to identify the type of Q card by memorizing the numbers and marks, but I do not remember 4 information (whether 0, 1, +,-was issued or not) for each Q card. The limit will soon come because it cannot be done. As you can see by trying it, if you try to remember it seriously, you will suddenly learn a lot. Therefore, I've done it myself, but ** it may have a low affinity with memory games **.

Also, this is not limited to memory games, but the rules that require some judgment and memory for each state of the field that is swollen by superposition will not be realistic at all. I think this is probably the case even if it's a game with full logs. It is essential to devise ways to reduce the amount of information that players must be aware of.

How to think

In the middle of making this time, I changed from the idea of putting quantum into the rules of the existing game to the feeling of making a quantum gimmick (Q card in this case). The advantage of this is that the quantum nature can be limited within that gimmick (the quantum coverage is clear). Also, by avoiding random elements as much as possible in the parts other than the quantum gimmick, it is possible to balance the game so that the player's decision can fully influence the outcome of the game. In other words, I thought it would be better to consider the fun as a quantum and the fun as a game separately. In this case,

--Interesting as a quantum --A gimmick called Q card --The fun of nervous breakdown ――A sense of accomplishment that you remembered the information that came out ――The feeling of exhilaration when you take a pair in a row

Quantum gimmicks were added while leaving the fun of nervous breakdown, and it was established as a rule, and elements of bargaining that were not in the original were added.

Finally

So is it interesting?

I don't think it's really interesting, but if you find nervous breakdown interesting, you can play it as it is. I've been playing it many times, but I think it can withstand the repeated play that was my goal.

What's the second game?

It is under construction. It's the stage where you have a gimmick idea.

How to play this? From now on?

Currently, I have no choice but to come to me (or I will go). I'm sorry. However, I was inspired by the unexplored interim report meeting the other day, and some people wanted to play, so I would like to make it possible to play in some way. It's still difficult to play with the appearance and UI (I wonder if anyone can make it with a decent UI (low voice)), but I would appreciate it if you could give us your impressions of the released Akatsuki. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us ([email protected]).

[PYTHON] Development of games that take advantage of quantum properties