Dreams on a pillow is a video game experience about the Nakba of 1948, an event in which approximately 700,000 people were displaced from their lands and homes due to Zionist occupation.
The game, described as “a pseudo-3D stealth adventure game about a land full of people that becomes a landless village,” is from Palestinian developer Rasheed Abu-Eideh. But before I tell you more about that, let me tell you about his previous game.
In 2016, Abu-Eideh released Liyla and the shadows of wara game about an assault on Gaza by Israel in 2014, known as Operation Protective Edge. lilyla Follows a Palestinian girl and her family as they navigate attacks in their neighborhood. It's short but emotional and combines platforming elements and choose-your-own-adventure storytelling. In 2021, the game was part of a standalone package that raised nearly $900,000 for Palestinian aid through UNRWA USA.
At the moment, Liyla and the shadows of war It's free on mobile devices and Windows. But in 2016, it was initially rejected as a game in Apple's App Store. Abu-Eideh was told to remove any description of it as “Game” and recategorize it as “News” or “Reference” due to its political nature. The hypocrisy of the decision was noted by many at the time: as Eurogamer reports, Apple denied it lilyla as a game, but allowed a game called Israeli heroes in the games section. After Abu-Eideh spoke out about Apple's decision on social media, Apple finally allowed lilyla be classified as a game.
Dreams on a pillow Abu-Eideh is currently crowdfunding on LaunchGood until January 13, and funds raised from the LaunchGood campaign will go toward asset creation, outsourcing, and salaries for the current team of 9 people. The game is aiming to launch in the fourth quarter of 2026.