Palestinian Voices in Games Aims To Help Devs in Gaza and West Bank Bring Their Stories to Life

As for why the network argues it is important to back games that focus on Palestinian perspectives, “The dehumanisation of Palestinians is tied to their rare visibility in the cultural sphere. This dehumanisation costs lives–as the world remains indifferent to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and to the surge of violent oppression across the West Bank and inside Israel.”

To accomplish this, Palestinian Voices in Games is currently working on expanding its “international volunteer network, meeting Palestinian developers looking for support, and connecting with potential funding partners.” Basically, it seeks to facilitate the creation of these games by helping coordinate logistics, such as finding financial backing and partnering them with developers willing to lend expertise as needed.

As per Rock Paper Shotgun, the network is currently providing support in the development of four games: a follow-up to comic artist Iasmin Omar Ota’s RPG Maker title Being, tentatively titled Being 2. Yusra’s RiFaya, which “combines testimony and symbolism to tell the story of her family and community based in the West Bank.” Yasmine Batniji’s Pomegranates, which is described on its Itch page as meant “for teaching audiences about the current events that Palestine is facing.”

And finally, there’s Rasheed Abueideh’s Dreams on a Pillow, a game that raised almost $250K via a fundraising campaign on LaunchGood, and is described as “a pseudo-3D stealth adventure game inspired by a historical Palestinian folk tale set during the ethnic cleansing that was the 1948 Nakba.” Abueideh previously developed the award-winning Liyla and the Shadows of War, which was about the horrors of the 2014 Gaza War.

If you’re interested in volunteering time or financial support for the Palestinian Voices in Games network, you can do so here.