Dreams on a Pillow tells a tragic Nakba story, needs crowdfunding

Rasheed Abueideh, lead developer on the Liyla & The Shadows of War, is back with a new crowdfunding campaign for a second game about the real-life experiences of Palestinians attempting to survive in a state of constant threat. Dreams on a Pillow puts you in the shoes of a mother who his fleeing her home during the Nakba – a pivotal moment in 1948 when +700K Palestinians were forcibly displaced or otherwise removed from their homes to give space for the creation of the current state of Isreal. 

The game is based on a famous folk story known to most Palestinians of a panicked mom who attempted to save her baby and flee amid the Nakba, but accidentally grabbed a pillow instead. It’s a stealth game where you must navigate the reality of being a marginalized person whose sense of safety has been permanently shattered, and the dreams and nightmares that come from that reality.

This is actually the second time the game has been crowdfunded, but given the scope of the game, and the extremely difficult conditions it’s being developed under, a second round of funding is necessary to get the game finished. It’s not a coincidence that this new campaign to spread awareness for the game launched on May 15^th, the official Nakba day of remembrance, recognized by the UN and multiple other international organizations.

Like The Light in the Darkness by French-Jewish developer Luc Bernard, which was made with the goal of giving players the opportunity to meditate on the real lives of Jewish people in France during the holocaust, Dreams on a Pillow is a game made about and by Palestinians, trying to help the world to understand their story. But being made in Palestine also means its developers are not able to use Kickstarter to crowdfund it. Hopefully that doesn’t stop the game from making its goals.