Quantum programming tutorials and benchmarking of near-term devices using games

Many interesting algorithms have been designed for large scale fault-tolerant quantum computers. However, most will not be suitable for the smaller and noisier devices of the next decade. To understand how these devices function, we must therefore design applications specifically for their capabilities.

Ideally, such applications should be relatable and understandable beyond the quantum computation community. This would help possible end users to understand which of their problems could be tackled with near-term quantum devices. It should also be implemented by a straightforward and adaptable quantum program, to help train the new generation of quantum programmers to solve these problems.

Here we show that these goals can be acheived by developing simple games for quantum computers. We specifically discuss simple implementations of Battleships, designed to provide the core of quantum programming tutorials, as well as game designed as a benchmarking tool, based on proposals to demonstrate a 'Quantum Advantage'.