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Yann Gensollen & Cédric Pontet

The rules of |HOP⟩ and the quantum physics behind them

|HOP⟩ is a board game you win by playing real quantum mechanics. Here's how it works — the board, the five movements, energy — and the physics hiding in every rule.

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The rules of |HOP⟩ and the quantum physics behind them

Most games borrow a theme and paint it on top. |HOP⟩ does the opposite: its rules are quantum mechanics. Learn to play it well and you have quietly learned how electrons behave. Here is how the game works — and the physics hiding inside every rule.

Watch the rules

The rules of |HOP⟩ in four minutes.

Three levels, one learning curve

|HOP⟩ ships as three nested rule sets, each adding a layer:

  • Bachelor (~5 min) — movement only. Learn how electrons move.
  • Master (~8 min) — adds energy and the Hamiltonian.
  • Doctorate (~15 min) — adds effects and richer interactions.

You play Bachelor and Master before Doctorate — the physics arrives the way a good course would deliver it.

The physics hiding in the rules

By now the pattern is clear. |HOP⟩ is not about quantum physics; it is a small, playable quantum system:

  • Spin — every electron carries one of two spin states. The whole board is built on it.
  • Superposition — the Superposition effect lets an electron sit between spins; its value is fixed only when a later move forces a choice. That is superposition and its collapse on measurement.
  • The observer effect — leaving an electrode, you choose the spin; the act of moving is the act of deciding the state.
  • Quantum tunnelling — the Quantum Tunnel move sends an electron straight through a barrier of others, exactly as particles tunnel through walls they classically could not cross.
  • Interactions — paired electrons cannot be treated in isolation; one choice constrains the other.
  • Quantised energy — energy moves in whole tokens, never fractions.
The superposition effect: place an electron between spins, then collapse it to a definite spin when a move demands it.

Why learn it by playing

You can read those ideas in a paragraph and forget them by lunch. Play them for fifteen minutes and they stick — because you did them, with your hands, under pressure, against other people. That is exactly why we build workshops around |HOP⟩: the game turns abstract rules into felt experience.

See |HOP⟩ in action with a real team in our Serious Play Conference recap.

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