How Canada’s Quantum Arcade Came To Be

The following is the story of Canada’s Quantum Arcade from the point of view of Ella Meyer and Timothy King who have been working to stand it up since 2023.

Ella and Timothy are 2024 Unitary Foundation micrograntees.

diversifying talent and increasing interest in quantum through gaming.

Ella: Beginning in 2019, UBC Geering Up had been working with multiple partner organizations to introduce K-12 students in British Columbia to quantum computing. Through the (now 6 years) of the project, we had tried a ton of different types of programs to get students engaged and excited about this field. Part of this was developing some online games and demos for students to play. In 2023, I received an out of the blue email from Tim.

Tim: I’d been teaching computer technology from an engineering angle in Ontario for twenty years when I was asked by the Information & Communications Technology Council who ran the CyberTitan competition my students and I competed in if I’d like to be seconded and do cyber-education outreach nationally. In my high school I was always going after the next big thing. We did a VR pilot in 2016, had a gamedev program in place years before others popped up, and then got into cybersecurity when education still (as it does now) thought it was someone else’s problem. What’s nice about cyber-education is that you’re always working with edge cases, so looking at emerging technologies feels (relatively) comfortable.

In 2023, a year into my secondment, I was looking into the next big thing when quantum computing popped into my news stream. A bit of research showed the only program actively doing quantum education in Canada was UBC’s Geering Up engineering outreach, so I dug up an email and cold called them!

the idea for a quantum boot camp at UBC summer of 2023.

Ella: I wanted to give Tim and two other collaborators an opportunity to dive headfirst into quantum learning. I organized a 2-day crash course with PhD students, researchers, and a tour of D Wave Systems, a Burnaby-based quantum computing company. We had an awesome time diving into game design, quantum concepts, and left really inspired to continue working together.

Tim: The week at UBC was wonderful. Ella said finding post-secondary researchers was easy because they were all gamers and the thought of a quantum game resonated with them. By the end of the week my head was buzzing with possibilities. The other collaborators wanted to pitch a big game concept and go for lots of funding but being a pragmatic teacher, I was stuck on the idea of small, easy to access, engaging games that might even be simple enough for my gamedev class to build.

The other thing that happened was Ella invited the Quantum Algorithms Institute in for one of the meetings and I hit it off with the CEO. At the end of the week my family and I went up to Whistler in the mountains for the weekend and she happened to live out that way. We had a cup of tea together and asked if I’d like to extend my secondment with QAI. This amped up my quantum engagement and eventually led to presenting research on quantum disruption to cyber systems in Africa, Mexico, and across Canada. It also had me building a Q-Day cyber-range, designing curriculum to engage cyber professionals with the coming encryption challenges and connecting with many quantum groups – one of which was the Unitary Foundation. When the opportunity came up to pitch the Quantum Arcade idea Ella and I had been batting around for months with UF, I took it!

Q2048 development and standing up the arcade.

Ella: In a small lull in our curriculum development cycle, I asked my staff if there were any professional development or passion projects they wanted to take on. Harshinee, a PhD candidate in computer science and a developer on my team, asked if she could explore game development through a quantum lens. She had experience building 2048 due to her previous work in serious games and wanted to put new spins on it. It was the perfect time to contact Tim again and reignite all the ideas we had for an online quantum game hub.

Tim: I’d always wanted to make the arcade an opportunity for student game developers to share their love of gaming through a quantum lens, but I also knew (from Ella’s diversifying quantum talent program) that there were lots of orphaned quantum games out there. They’d get funded and put online until the money ran out then end up (if they were lucky) sitting on a USB key in a forgotten drawer.

I’d come across hints of ‘Quantum Cats’ from University of Waterloo’s Quantum Computing Institute but couldn’t find it. Ella put me in touch with John Donahue there and he happened to have a copy on a USB in his desk! A quick chat later the Quantum Arcade went from one to two games, and then a third when Ella dug up one of her orphaned games from the previous diversifying talent project.

In summer of 2025, I was in Ottawa at Good Shepherd School, and we were trying some early quantum awareness education with grade fives. One of the students was a gifted programmer already and was keen to consider a quantum game. For an activity I had the students put together a pitch for a quantum themed Scratch game. The class was right into it, so I emailed Ella afterwards wondering if we might not do what I’d hoped for all along and encourage students to make quantum-themed games – we could publish the top ones on the Arcade!

what the game jam is all about.

Ella: We are diving headfirst into a National Game Jam in partnership with KnowledgeFlow. Games developed by grade 6-12 students featuring quantum mechanics as part of their gameplay, story, or mechanics are all welcome! Scratch, Unity, or other frameworks are all encouraged so that students can play to their strengths and design their dream games. Submissions are open until December 20th, 2025. Find out more about it here: https://knowledgeflow.org/initiative/ubcs-year-of-quantum-arcade-game-jam/

Tim: There are many challenges with the Quantum Arcade Student Game Jam. One is that most teachers have no idea that it’s the hundredth anniversary of quantum mechanics. The next is that quantum is always said to be the next big thing instead of something we’ve been building technology out of for most of the 20th Century. The last challenge is that despite gaming being the predominant medium for anyone under forty, almost no one teaches how to build them in schools – even the basic coding skills needed are thin on the ground in Canada.

We’ve ploughed ahead anyway because there are a few brave teachers who are willing to dive into this deep end with us and explore a subject most people are oblivious to using technological skillsets almost no one teaches. Out on the edge like this is never going to be an easy sell, but that’s why it’s so important that we do it.

looking to the future.

Ella: Teaching with the quantum arcade is a dream come true. We are constantly finding new ways to use the games in programming, and being inspired to create more and more new games to match demand. Hearing the kids ask great questions, coach each other, and celebrate wins is exactly why we built the arcade. In future years, we are aiming to build sustainable momentum and ideally have the arcade grow into a self-sustaining, vibrant hub for quantum education.

Tim: My hope is that in five years the Quantum Arcade is an established entity with dozens of games and regular opportunities for students both in K12 and post-secondary, to build games that allow everyone to play with quantum concepts and demystify the technology that surrounds us. At the moment I’m noodling something similar to the old Lemmings game where the player directs electrons through transistors of various types after writing a piece on it last month.

about the micrograntees.

Ella Meyer is the Quantum Computing Outreach Coordinator at UBC Geering Up and the Project Manager for the Diversifying Talent in Emerging Technologies Program. She graduated with a B.Sc. in Astronomy from the University of British Columbia in 2020 and still lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Ella has been working in science education and communication for over four years in partnership with industry and academics worldwide!

A pioneering cyber-educator in Canada, Timothy King was the first teacher in the country to become cyber operations instructor qualified, and the first with MITx’s Quantum Computing certification. Winner of the Cisco Networking Academy alumni innovator and shooting star awards in 2023 and 2024 International Security Journal global leadership award winner for mentorship, Timothy has presented research on emerging technology in the cyber domain around the world, and is diligently trying to raise the quality of cyber-education in Canada.