Palestinian video game designer Rasheed Abueideh is busy at work on his second game, Dreams on a Pillow. The side-scrolling stealth game is significant to him, as it is set during the Nakba.
After a crowdfunding campaign received international attention and raised more than $200,000, Abueideh is relieved that he and his team can finally begin on the project that has been on his mind for a long time. “Making video games is not an easy task here, ultimately, we’re in a war zone, and the goal is survival at the end of the day.”
Speaking to The National from the occupied West Bank, Abueideh says he is grateful for all the support his crowdfunding campaign has received, crediting the Arab diaspora in the West for making the campaign more visible.
He also noted that it wasn’t just Arabs or Muslims who made it a successful campaign. “There were many who were just pro-Palestine in their stance, even though they were not Arab or Muslim, they also contributed to the success of the campaign,” says Abueideh.
This is not the first time Abueideh has worked on developing a video game. He made the short game Liyla & The Shadows of War in 2016. Having begun gaming design in 2010, Abueideh wanted the free game to achieve two goals: executing what he learnt as a designer and making an emotional work about Palestine that was accessible to everyone.
“That game was short, but it was well received, with many around the world playing it," he adds. "It was a volunteer effort as well, no one was paid for that game.”
He is set to begin the first phase of the game while the crowdfunding continues. “I have a small team, about seven people, and we all work remotely," he says. "There are people in Europe, and some in Jordan and one in Kuwait."
Dreams on a Pillow is about a Palestinian mother, named Omm, who was forcefully evicted from her house during the Nakba. The story goes that as she was leaving the house, distraught and discombobulated, she carried a pillow mistaking it for her child.
Omm then has a psychological attachment to the pillow as she continues to mistake it for her child. She must survive the trek from the village of Tantoura to a refugee camp in Lebanon, all the while evading aggression from Israeli soldiers.
The character is hindered or aided by a game mechanic where, if she drops the pillow, she can move easily but her mind begins to drift and lose focus. Holding the pillow makes her focus again but her movement is slower and more cumbersome, creating scenarios in which each position is needed to traverse levels.
“I didn’t think it was a true story at first, but I did some research, and it seems to have really happened according to first-hand accounts,” says Abueideh. “I had first heard it from a famous Arab anthology series, which acted out the story, and it stayed with me for years.”
Set during the Nakba, the game also shows how Palestinian cities looked before they were ravaged by war. The concept art shows lively bright streets before they turned to grey rubble from the attacks.
For Abueideh, what matters most is that the Palestinian cause becomes more apparent through telling these stories. He says that video games can be a great platform for compassionate storytelling that invites empathy from the player. “It matters to me that people understand that it is one big ongoing story that started a long time ago and has not ended but keeps going," he adds. "There are everyday stories, which this is one of, but there’s a bigger picture of the Palestinian struggle."
Now that the money for the first production phase is secured, Abueideh says they are on course to release the game late next year, with the money raised allowing them to work throughout this year. He hopes the ongoing campaign will raise enough money for them to finish it next year.
