PhyloFun is a puzzle game based on my research on phylogenetic networks. The goal is to match the two networks, by dragging them onto each other. If the networks are not yet the same, you have to ‘rearrange’ one of them by detaching a line from a node, and re-attaching it on another line.
The game is still in development, and lacks a good complexity progression. The current version can be played online, which works best on non-mobile devices. For the best experience on mobile devices, make sure to use landscape mode, refresh the browser once you are in this mode, and then go to full-screen mode. I also have an old version for several platforms (Windows, Linux, or Android).
If you have any comments or suggestions, please mail them to me.
Data collection
The original intention was to use this game in a citizen science project to collect data about the problems I studied during my PhD. By collecting good solutions to the puzzles in the game, we can build a large test/example set showing us how rearrangement problems for phylogenetic networks can be solved. This could then, for example, be used in benchmarks or as a training set for AI solutions.
I am currently building the backend with a database of networks, rearrangement problems, and solutions. There is a connection to the game in the ‘science’ world via a REST API. Levels in this world are taken from the database, and, when the level is won, the solution is sent back to the database. The backend then checks whether the solution is valid, and adds it to the database if it is.
The code for the game can be found here.