Run for Peace Across The Middle East: A New Game For Apple Devices

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Ahmed Zidan
Jul 16 2012
Games
Run for Peace Across The Middle East: A New Game For Apple Devices
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Game development house Game Cooks recently launched their first game Run for Peace HD for iPhone and iPad.

Run for Peace’s main character, Salim, has been dreaming of peace since 3 years of age, but things unfortunately haven’t been going as he wishes. As a result, he decided to overcome his fears and embark on a journey to spread peace in the Middle East. His mission includes overcoming many obstacles, including taxi cabs, flying water pipes, ditches, boxes of explosives and missles. While running, he also collects money and bonuses, feeds on flying hommos plates, and lights peace torches in every one of the 10 countries he goes across. Check out the trailer here.

“The Middle East is a marred by recurring conflicts. People want peace, but it seems elusive at times. If you walk around Beirut at night for example, you will come across fun loving youths that shun war. Since the number of iPhone users in the region built up considerably over the past years, we decided to offer them a chance to play for a noble cause,” explains Lebnan Nader, Head of marketing and one of the cofounders of Game Cooks.

The game, which is available in both English and Arabic, emphasizes the little things that bring people from different cultures together, including language, using a play on words that mixes Arabic and French, music, and habits. “Run for Peace has been downloaded 200,000 in a single day in different countries around the globe, and now sits as a top download in several charts,” continues Lebnan.

The music for the game is a rendition of the tune “Ya Mustapha”, a globally popular which has been performed by several artist including Greek, Turkish, and Spanish performers among others. The Game Cooks team performed the song themselves, based on the rendition by Alexandria born Lebanese artist Bob Azzam.

The game concept is original. The graphics are of high quality. I recommend purchasing the game, which sells for just 1 dollar (with in-game features available for 1-3 dollars), for iPhone users. iPod users should wait a bit longer, as the current version isn’t very compatible with the device. An updated version is expected within the few coming days though which would make it perfectly compatible with 3rd and 4th generation iTouch.

In the meantime, if you’re a fan of linear run and jump games, there are a number of free games available on Apple devices that could quench your thirst including Temple Run and Run and Jump.

The company had earlier released a rather confusing YouTube video in an effort to create a buzz for the upcoming game. The video reveals the main character, in addition to his own Facebook page and Twitter accounts. However if you search either Facebook or Twitter, the accounts are nowhere to be found. The game’s sole Facebook page can be found here.

“We will release an HTML5 Facebook version soon, and an android one too,” he continued, “This is not my first game, I previously released Birdy Nam Nam which was downloaded 1.5 million times in 6 months. Run for Peace however is our first game since we established Game Cooks earlier this year." Game Cooks employs 5 people.

Lebnan concluded his interview for ArabNet by highlighting Game Cooks’ plans for the future. “We are working on another game which we expect will be released by the end of August. Another 2 games will follow towards the end of the summer season. Fans will be delighted that all our games will have an Arabic twist.”

To find out more about the game you can visit its dedicated website or you can download it from the App Store. If you want to stay updated on Game Cooks’ activities make sure to check in on their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter.