Quantum adventure for children: Escape room and app inspire!

Quantum adventure for children: Escape room and app inspire!

On April 25, 2024, the escape room “Cat Q – A Quantum Adventure” celebrated its first birthday. The exciting attraction was created by the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat and the Dresden Technical Collections to introduce children and young people to the basics of quantum physics in a playful way. To date, nearly 6,000 people, including 140 school classes and 100 private groups, have attended the interactive experience. The concept not only promotes learning, but also the team spirit of the participants.

To enrich the gaming experience, the escape room was recently redesigned. Newly introduced is a scoreboard that shows the score for the entire group, as well as a floor visualization and a countdown that intensify the gaming experience. In addition, 17 short films known as “KittyToks” complement the escape room puzzles. These films are accessible via QR codes and expand the “Kittypedia to go” lexicon, which provides further information.

Gamification as a learning strategy

“Cat Q” is not only an escape room, but also the name of a game app that is tailored to the concept. This app reached over 500,000 downloads worldwide. Developed by ct.qmat and app designer Philipp Stollenmayer, the app is also aimed at children and young people aged 11 and over and contains 21 quantum puzzles. Downloads of the English version amount to around 400,000, which underlines the international success of the app. A central goal is to promote interest in physics, especially among girls, which has also been honored by various international awards such as the GOLDEN SPATZ 2022 children's media award and the "Best Mobile Indie Game" at the Valencia Indie Summit 2022.

The app not only has its own Wikipedia entry, but is also actively used in schools, for example at the German International School in Washington D.C. Further projects are being planned in the future. This includes a newly designed escape room in Dresden, which will offer a walk-in quantum apartment with four rooms. The first teaching materials on quantum physics phenomena are also planned to be downloaded free of charge in 2024.

Science and technology combined

The Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, which has been supported by the JMU Würzburg and the TU Dresden since 2019, researches topological quantum materials. In collaboration with the Dresden Technical Collections, a technology museum and science center, an interdisciplinary approach is pursued that combines science, technology and education. Through creative and interactive approaches, the project promotes understanding of complex physical concepts and brings them closer to a broad target group.

The ideas of the escape room and the app illustrate how gamification can be used as an effective means of imparting knowledge. Through playful elements, participants are motivated to engage with the content and at the same time recognize teamwork. The approaches to gamification are also in other areas, such as: B. can be implemented in to-do list apps. There, the application of game-like elements significantly increases engagement and user retention, showing how diverse and customizable these strategies are.