Atajrubah is an Arabian inspired survival game for the Oculus Rift. Think Minecraft meets DayZ meets the Middle East, but with Ghuls and Djinn instead of Zombies or Creepers.

You can download the latest alpha demo and try it for yourself here : 

The player character (Left) is in a constant struggle with the Ghuls (Right) who prey on wandering travelers. 

I'm a huge fan of MineCraft and DayZ and they are my primary influences. I wanted to create a game that embodies the spirit of those games, but takes place in a setting that people don't often explore much outside of stereotypes.

You find yourself in a land not your own, with no prospect of finding out who you were. You are forced to forge ahead and create a new life. You'll have to scavenge, craft, trade, and fight to stay alive in this harsh environment.

Back in September I invited the guys at IGN Middle East to come check out the Rift and Atajrubah. I thought they just wanted to check out the Oculus Rift, but to my surprise they came down to do an article on Atajrubah and not the Rift! It was a very humbling experience to say the least.

If you're interested, you can check out that article at the link below.

http://me.ign.com/en/feature/14974/meet-atajrubah-the-middle-east-themed-game-for-the-oculus-rift

My Name is Alan Robinson. I'm a visual effects artist and indie developer living in Abu Dhabi, a city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

I started working on the game in February of 2013. At first it was only me working on it. I had to wear a lot of hats and it was a huge relief when more people started helping me out.

Now there are seven of us working on the game. I work on the game full time, and the other team members help out when and where they can. I'm very grateful for them! 

We're big believers in emergent game-play - the experiences that come from players interacting with the world and with each other. We want to expand player impact on the environment and its inhabitants far as we can.

We are well aware that our modest $10,000 goal is not enough to take the game all the way to completion. It is, however, enough to help us get the game into online beta. Once in online beta, we'll be able to hear and process more feedback, bringing us greater insight into what players want to see in the game.

Right now the game is still far from complete. We have an alpha demo with prototype crafting and survival mechanics, day/night cycles, creature AI and a large landscape for the player to explore.

We've laid out a variety of rewards that we hope will appeal to everybody. We want as many people as possible to get their hands on the game. You can get the basic alpha package for as little as $5 and some of the perks available include:

- Beta Access + Deep discount on future commercial release.

- A 5 track score composed for the Beta by the talented AJ.Lournie at Forte Sounds Ltd.

- A high resolution concept art E-Book with concept art from the Beta development process.

- Exclusive monthly pre-Beta builds, where your feedback will help shape the game!

Every dollar you contribute goes towards helping us build an Beta with a strong core game play experience. This includes the following:

- Commissioning an amazing , Arabian inspired sound track for the game.

                  

- Developing a flexible and intuitive UI and Menu system.

- Commissioning more character and creature models to populate the world.

           

- Commissioning more concept art to help us shape the world.

      

- Commissioning more environment art assets.

         

- While I am a competent programmer, I simply do not have enough experience with sql databases and network programming. Your contributions will help me bring a network programmer on board who is more experienced with this side of things.

If we don't reach our goal we don't get anything !

• We want to create an engaging experience for players, while promoting cross-cultural learning through play.
  

• Providing a stereotype and religion free environment where players can explore and experience a world inspired by another culture, its folklore, architecture and language.

• The other team members and I love games, game development and flexing our creative muscles. Atajrubah gives us an outlet to continue doing so and keep our passion alive, while building a community and an experience that's bigger than us.
  

If you can't contribute any funds to the project, that is ok! You can still help by:

Sharing the campaign on Twitter and Facebook 

  

Vote for us on Steam Greenlight

or even make a YouTube video! 
Anything helps and we appreciate whatever you can give.