# Stand Up To Cancer mobile game attracts volunteer citizen scientists

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/10/09/stand-cancer-mobile-game-attracts-volunteer-citizen-scientists/
- Published: 2014-10-09T12:46:13+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Reverse The Odds is a mobile game released as part of this year’s [Stand Up To Cancer](http://www.channel4.com/standuptocancer)
campaign. The free puzzle adventure game, which works on tablets and smartphones,
turns each player into a volunteer whose gaming skills are helping scientists with
large scale data analysis to help beat cancer sooner.

The game offers over 350 levels, and features the Odds, “a collection of unique 
colourful little characters who need your help to return their world to life”.

Players examine patterns within cancer cell slides and identify aspects such as 
the number of cells or the colour of cells. The more they identify, the higher the
levels they can reach and the greater the rewards. As they revitalise the desolate
wasteland of the Odds, they are interpreting more and more data and saving cancer
scientists time.

## Advertisement

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-b1h06_SNM

Players should not worry about getting their analysis of slides wrong. The same 
data is being used and played with by many other players around the world: “no single
person’s diagnosis or treatment is affected by your actions”, Cancer Research UK
assures them.

Reverse the Odds has been designed for people to play whether they have a few minutes
waiting for the bus, or whether they want to spend several hours at it.

You can [download Reverse The Odds](http://www.channel4.com/programmes/stand-up-to-cancer/articles/all/reverse-the-odds-game)
from Google Play, Amazon or the Apple App Store.

It is the latest in a long-line of citizen science initiatives in which individuals
volunteer their time and skills, and sometimes [donate their spare PC processing power](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2000/08/14/donate-cpu-time-well-money/)(
more commonly referred to as distributed computing), to help interpret large volumes
of big data in bite-sized portions. Initiatives include [Seti @home](http://www.seti.org),
[Zooniverse](http://www.zooniverse.org), [Galaxy Zoo](http://www.galaxyzoo.org),
[Folding @home](http://folding.stanford.edu/), and [Charity Engine](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2012/05/10/charity-engine-donating-spare-computing-power-good/).

## CRUK and citizen science

Cancer Research UK has been active in citizen science initiatives over the past 
few years. It launched [its first mobile game Genes in Space](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2014/02/04/mobile-gamers-help-cruk-citizen-science-cancer-research/)
in February this year, which was developed from the charity’s [GameJam](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2013/07/23/cancer-research-uk-create-mobile-phone-game-seek-cures/)
event in March 2013.

Its first citizen science project was [Cell Slider](http://www.cellslider.net), 
which it launched in October 2012 with Zooniverse to encourage the public to classify
archived breast cancer samples.

Although these citizen science initiatives don’t seek donations, they do encourage
people to volunteer their time and skills.

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