The Jordan Gaming Lab, an initiative of the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD), hosted the local edition of the “Game Zanga 2026” challenge, bringing together 80 young men and women who developed electronic games within an intensive timeframe across four of the Lab’s branches in Amman, Zarqa, Aqaba, and Irbid.
The three-day event was held in conjunction with the Arab edition of “Game Zanga,” a non-profit game development event that challenges participants to design and develop a complete game within 72 hours, based on a common theme announced at the start of the challenge.
The 14th edition of this year’s challenge was held under the theme “Dreams.” Working in teams, participants transformed their ideas into games combining programming, design, illustration, sound, and storytelling. Completed projects were then uploaded to the itch.io platform for evaluation and competition alongside game developers from across the Arab world.
Director General of the King Abdullah II Fund for Development, Dr. Samer Al-Mofleh, said that organizing such events forms part of the Jordan Gaming Lab’s efforts to support Jordan’s gaming sector, build young people’s capabilities in game design, programming, and production, and strengthen connections between Jordanian developers and companies and organizations operating in the sector.
He noted that KAFD is moving forward with its plan to further develop the Lab and expand its scope to include emerging technologies alongside electronic game development, in line with the Economic Modernization Vision’s objectives for the creative industries sector. He added that this expansion will contribute to empowering young Jordanians and developing their creative and technical capabilities in promising and high-growth sectors.
A total of 80 participants took part across the four Jordanian branches, including 64 males and 16 females. During the challenge, they successfully completed and submitted 24 electronic games, while total attendance registrations over the three-day event reached 169.
The submitted games are being evaluated through the event’s official page on itch.io, where participants play and rate one another’s games. Results will be announced following the conclusion of the evaluation period, with the competition taking place at the Arab regional level rather than being limited to Jordanian entries.
KAFD has begun implementing a development plan to transform the Jordan Gaming Lab into a specialized hub for emerging technologies and electronic game development. The expanded scope will cover artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality, robotics, digital production technologies, as well as electronic game design and development. The initiative is part of KAFD’s broader efforts to equip Jordanian youth with the skills needed to meet evolving labor market demands and prepare for the jobs of the future.