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Alkottab is an Egypt based development studio that focuses on edutainment with a mission to produce games that present value to users beyond just entertainment. The company was founded by a group of fresh graduates, including Eslam Almohandes with whom i had the pleasure of a brief chat where he shed light on their story and plans for the future.

The idea of forming a game development studio was one that he and his college friends had pondered even before thinking of any specific game they wanted to create. initially, Eslam and his team just know that they wanted games to be more than just a pastime. “We saw that people spent a lot of time on games, and that games can have either a good or bad influence on players,” he continued. The idea for the first game, Tahrir Square Defense, happened during the Camel Battle (موقعة الجـِمال).

On the day of the incident, Eslam was on his way to Tahrir Square when he ran into a group of armed civil protesters, known as “اللجان الشعبية”, that forbad him from making his way back to the square. Their reasoning was that the situation was getting far too dangerous and that people’s safety was a priority. Eslam and his friends on the other hand had a firm belief that freedom preceded all. The conversation between both parties raged on for about 4 hours.

That incident was what inspired them to create their first game, a tower defense game that emulates the Camel Battle. The player’s job is to defend Tahrir square from the multiple waves of attacks. They can build and upgrade different types of towers to achieve his mission. Working on the game started off in 2011, while all members of the team worked second jobs. It wasn’t until November in 2013 that they finally quit their day jobs and dedicated their entire attention to Alkottab. Tahrir Square Defense finally made its way into the public on the 15th of May of last year.

The game has more than 9000 players, 3.5% of which have made purchases. The game is made up of 15 levels. The first 3 are free. The first additional six go for 3.5 EGPs, and the final six for an additional 3 EGPs. Eslam is pleasantly surprised by the fact that most of the people that have purchased additional levels come from Egypt. Time spent on the game was also much more than he expected, which he thought would be around a couple of hours. Instead, he has seen players stay up to 10 hours defending Tahrir. His proudest moment however was when he got word from a certain player: a mother who had been playing the game with her son to teach him the moral values of the revolution.

Game two is on the way

Alkottab is currently developing their second game, inspired by a 1902 book by Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi entitled “The Nature of Despotism and the Harm of Enslavement” (طبائع الاستبداد ومصارع الاستعباد). The events of the game mimic that of the book, where it takes place in a fictitious land called Zanoobia, and the player has to face the tyrant that rules over the land.

Unlike the first game, the new one will be for mobile - both iOS and Android. This is because the team believes that tower defense games work better on mobile. The game is scheduled for release for June of 2014.

Working in Egypt

The advantages of working in Egypt according to Eslam is the abundance of human resources. He was keen to tell me that there are plenty of qualified personnel in Egypt that have great capabilities. The downside was securing funds. While they were developing their first game, he told me that they had participated in a number of competitions just to get money to further their projects.

Investors are scared he says and reluctant to invest. The market is vibrant he explains but winning companies are few. Additionally, 70% of the investment usually goes towards salaries, which accentuates the risk for investors.

Alkottab  is one of six startups currently being incubated by AUC’s Venture Lab. We already reviewed El Shahbander and Mubser, and will be featuring the remaining three on our blog in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!