Writing good software might be slightly less pinickety than it was a generation ago, with WYSIWYG platforms and automated debugging systems taking a degree of legwork out of the process, but there is still no substitute for the tedious testing that goes into making secure software.

We’ve seen a number of examples over the past few years of just these kind of tasks being turned over to the crowd, especially via the use of game like techniques to break things down into small chunks and making the process as fun as possible.

Gamifying software development

Verigames have attempted to do just that, allowing players to help debug software whilst engaging in a series of entertaining games.

In Binary Fission, for instance, players are asked to sort ‘quarks’ into pools in as few a steps as possible.  Probably unbeknownst to the players however, what they’re really doing is checking the software for security flaws.

Or you have Paradox, in which players are required to change the state of a number of on-screen variables in a bid to eliminate conflicts.  These are just two of a handful of games that allow players to help debug software without knowing it.

As with most crowd based projects, the challenge will be in attracting sufficient numbers to make the process effective.  I can certainly see the attraction for those in the industry, but hopefully the nature of the games themselves will be enough to attract a wider audience.

You can learn more about the games via the link above, or via an interview with the developers below.

https://youtu.be/5bHqFHaVbVk