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GameTako, a N2V portfolio company, announced Thursday  the winning game entries of its second Game Zanga game development weekend and competition which was held on December 12 - 14, 2012 in three major cities: Amman, Cairo and Riyadh, in addition to participants competing remotely from across the globe. The Game Zanga game jam resulted in 43 games created under the community-voted “Freedom” theme, which were evaluated by a panel of judges composed of representatives from Arab game specialist media outlets in addition to prominent Arab game developers.

GameTako, which acts as a social game portal and game distribution and monetization platform for independent Arab game developers, awarded the winners with prizes and incentivized participants with titles such as "Best Newcomer", which was awarded to the youngest developer who completed his project. “I was delighted at the level of the games produced during this session… The creative atmosphere that participants created resulted in games that exceeded the organizers' expectations,” commented Abdullah Hamed, GameTako Founder and CEO.

The total value of prizes awarded exceeded $10,000, including $2,500 in cash, gaming consoles, and free licenses from Game Zanga sponsors. "The awards are just a mean to motivate developers to participate and reward the best and most creative games. The monetary rewards are less than the ones we gave out in our previous Game Jam since we wanted to concentrate more on licenses this time around" The reason behind this according to Abdullah is to "make the passion to develop games the prime reason for participating."

The winning entries are as follows:

Main Awards:

• First Prize ($1,000): Freedom (Ahmed Majdoubi, Morocco)
  
• Second Prize ($500): Voice of Freedom (Betenjam, Egypt)
  
• Third Prize ($250): The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Fleeing Mice (Abdullah Konash, Ahmad Al Haddad and Maan Al Ashqar, Saudi Arabia)

• Best game in Amman venue: The People Want (Team Crown)
  
• Best game in Cairo venue: Voice of Freedom (Betenjam)
  
• Best game in Riyadh venue: Liberation (Osama Al Salman team)

• Best Unity game (Unity Pro license): The People Want (Team Crown, Jordan)
  
• Best Stencyl game (Stencyl Studio license): Protect Burma (Abdul Lateef Husni, Palestine)
  
• Best Construct 2 game (Construct 2 Business license): Freedom (Ahmed Majdoubi, Morocco)

Motivational Awards: 

• Most Innovative Game: Emerge (Salwan Hilali, Egypt)
  
• Best Technical Achievement: Free Your Mind (Omar El Sayyed, Egypt)
  
• Most Humorous Game: Harban (Osama Hussein, Salaheddine Basti and Chafik El Hadri, Morocco).
  
• Best Newcomer: Escape from Bermuda (Raed Abdullah, Jordan)
  

In addition to other license winners that can be viewed here (Arabic).

During the event, GameTako awarded Jame3 Jame3 3D, a Game Zanga alumni, with a 500 dollar reward in recognition of its success, having been played more than 50,000 times, part of GameTako's 1 cent per play promotion plan.

Game Jams are a popular form of game development activities, with the likes of Ludum Dare and The Global Game Jam. 

GameTako’s mission is to create and maintain a sustainable game development industry in the region using a revenue share on ad earnings model. The team is also developing a platform aimed at connecting developers with investors.

You can access the Zanga's dedicated page here . You can also like GameTako on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.