From curiosity to play: Join Hi Score Science, send us your questions and dare to participate in our league
This outreach project combining science and video games invites you to compete in online tournaments and participate by sending scientific questions that will be reviewed by researchers and published in the game
The free, ad-free app can be downloaded from the Apple Store and Play Store and for Windows, iOS and Linux at www.HiScoreScience.org.
The project has been developed by two research institutes, the Institute of Chemical Synthesis and Homogeneous Catalysis and the Aragon Nanoscience and Materials Institute.
(Zaragoza, 25 September 2025) Hi Score Science is an outreach project based on the development of a science quiz video game. The project is being developed by two research institutes, the Institute of Chemical Synthesis and Homogeneous Catalysis (ISQCH) and the Aragon Nanoscience and Materials Institute (INMA), both of which are joint centres of the CSIC and the University of Zaragoza.
The game, which includes questions such as ‘Can we hear the Northern Lights?’ and ‘Why are veins blue?’, is now available free of charge and without advertising on the Apple Store and the Play Store, as well as for PC, Mac and Linux at www.HiScoreScience.org.
The project has two competitions/participation modes with different levels ranging from primary school through secondary school to adults. The first mode allows users to take part in scientific development by sending us their questions, and the second mode allows users to play by answering questions and competing in the online National Absolute League.
Be part of the scientific content and send us your scientific questions.
The project aims to make users feel involved in the project, so it invites users to send us their questions, which, once reviewed by a scientific committee made up of more than 50 researchers, are published in the application with the name of the person who sent the question. To encourage participation, provincial, regional (Aragon) and national senior and junior competitions are held, rewarding the most active users with technological gifts, visits to scientific facilities and scientific trips to the National Final, which will take place at the CSIC Headquarters in Madrid in April 2026.
In-person and virtual tournaments are also created in which users compete live using their own mobile phones to discover who is the most knowledgeable in science.
The rules and methods of participation are available at www.HiScoreScience.org
Show off your knowledge and participate in the VI National Online League
In addition, the project includes a national online league, which will begin today, Thursday 25 September, with a special evening tournament for researchers, in which any user of any age and background can participate, and which will feature a monthly online tournament.
The league will hold a monthly tournament from the last Thursday of the month until the following Tuesday, with prizes for each match and for the annual winners.
In previous editions, people from different Spanish Autonomous Communities and of all ages have participated, from primary school students to staff from different universities.
All the information about the competition and the rules are available at www.HiScorescience.org.
Do you prefer arcade machines and large formats?
If you like arcades and science, don’t miss the Hi Score Science arcade machines at the Natural Science Museum of the University of Zaragoza in Zaragoza and the Planetarium of Aragon in Huesca, as well as the large-format touch screens at the Eureka! Museum in San Sebastián and the Elder Museum of Science and Technology in Palma.
Are you thinking of learning languages?
The game is entirely in Spanish and English and has versions in French, Basque, Galician and Aragonese.
An educational project in constant motion with international recognition
The Hi Score Science project was launched in 2016 in response to the need to adapt outreach activities to the world of younger people, who belong to the digital generation and are currently focused on video games and new technologies. This project has progressed year after year, going from a regional to a national project and reaching a more disadvantaged audience, such as young patients in hospitals, rural residents and adults, a group that is usually far removed from outreach activities that allow them to participate actively and not as mere observers.
The project was awarded first prize in the 18th edition of the Science in Action programme in the category ‘Interactive Science Teaching Materials’ (IBM Award), received the D+i TOP seal, a national recognition that rewards the best inclusive science outreach projects, received second prize in the best outreach project category at the 1st CSIC Science Outreach and Citizen Science Awards, and has been nominated twice for the Third Millennium Awards. In addition, it has been selected for presentation at meetings, conferences and courses such as the 2019 and 2022 D+i Conferences, the 36th Biennial Meeting of the RSEQ, ComCiRed2018, the 5th National Meeting of Nanodivulgadores, the 1st Congress of Inclusive Science and the 7th and 9th Congresses of Social Communication of Science.
The Hi Score Science project was launched in 2016 in response to the need to adapt outreach activities to the world of younger people, who belong to the digital generation and are currently focused on video games and new technologies. This project has progressed year after year, growing from a regional to a national project and reaching a wider audience.
Hi Score Science is a highly rated game among users, with a score of 4.5 out of 5, which is much higher than other similar games. It currently has more than 40,000 downloads worldwide, mainly in Spain and Asia. The game has been presented in different autonomous communities, at video game, scientific and educational fairs, reaching a global impact of more than 600,000 people.
A scientific team behind Hi Score Science
The Hi Score Science project has been developed by two research centres, the Institute of Chemical Synthesis and Homogeneous Catalysis (ISQCH) and the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragon, both of which are joint centres between the CSIC and the University of Zaragoza.
The project has the collaboration of the CSIC’s Deputy Vice-Presidency for Scientific Culture (VACC), the following museums: the Natural Science Museum of the University of Zaragoza, the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid, the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain, the Elder Museum of Science and Technology, the Eureka Museum, the House of Science in Seville, the House of Science in Valencia, and the Planetarium of Aragon, the CSIC delegation in Galicia, as well as the CASIO Scientists and archaeologyhub projects.
Contact:
Beatriz Latre
646196596
blatre@unizar.es
– Images of users playing at the Natural Science Museum of the University of Zaragoza.
– Images of participants playing Hi Score Science.
– Images from previous editions during the National Final held at the CSIC Headquarters in Madrid.
Attached are a couple of links to 1-minute videos of the national and regional finals:
25-09-2025
