IFCA participates in the creation of Code Hunting Game, an online game available in the Telegram app
October 1, 2021
Code Hunting Game is an online game designed by Alessandro Bogliolo based on a treasure hunt, where you navigate through a world map, guessing various puzzles and interacting with a messaging bot (the Treasure Hunt bot, developed by Lorenz Klopfenstein), through the Telegram messaging application.
The Institute of Physics of Cantabria (IFCA - CSIC, UC) has participated in this hunt of the astronomical treasure, in collaboration with the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) in Italy, providing the different locations in Cantabria, such as the Institute itself or the headquarters for the
Athena mission. The places on the map have been proposed by astronomers around the world and it is a project in constant evolution, where anyone can propose new places by filling out a form.
To play you only need a smartphone, a Telegram account, an Internet connection and a QR code reader.
This will automatically launch the Treasure Hunt bot on your device, allowing you to join the game. Once in the game, the user can move virtually all over the world in search of significant places for astronomy, in the past, present and future. Observatories, telescopes, museums, planetariums, space missions and key figures in astrophysical research appear. To access these places, various enigmas provided by the game must be solved. The map is available in several languages: Italiano - English - Français - Deutsch - Español (places in Spain) - Català (locations in Catalunya).
This INAF initiative is proposed as an educational tool that combines scientific dissemination, computing and digital skills. It allows you to play competitively or collaboratively, and individually or in a group.
Official game poster
In addition to the IFCA, the Cardiff University-School of Physics and Astronomy, the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, the IEEC (Institut d'Estudis Espácials de Catalunya), the Institute of Space Sciences, IUCAA, the University of the Basque Country, the Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra and the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium.
