Camel racing-based electronic awareness game launched in UAE

Dubai: A unique electronic game themed on camel racing, a popular sport in the Middle East, which aims to enhance national awareness about Emirati heritage has been launched in the UAE.

The game UAE Camel Racing, is an electronic educational app that aims to enhance national awareness by allowing players a cognitive linkage to heritage-related and historical vocabulary. Lt General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior launched the game on Apple Store and Google Play last week. This initiative is in pursuance of the integrated smart awareness programme implemented by the Khalifa Student Empowerment Program, at the Office of HH Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. Camel racing is the most important element of the game. It contributes to spread cultural, health, and food education, and to promote personal and interaction skills, as well as social behaviour and communication, it was announced here. Major General Nasser Lakhrebani Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of the Office of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior said the games were developed by a local team of game designers, based on high-end global game engines. "The game acquaints players with the traditional history of camel racing and the need to preserve it. It features awareness screenshots and graphics about patriotism, and promotes healthy eating habits. "Furthermore, the game contributes to developing personal skills, knowledge, attention, focus, and self-esteem, whereas children practice their favourite activities, and develop social interaction and communication skills in the process," ME Newswire quoted General Coordinator of the Khalifa Student Empowerment Program, Ibrahim Al Dabal as saying. "The main goal was to design awareness-raising games that are compatible with different operating systems," he said. The game has hit 770,000 international and 92,000 local downloads and ranked first in the number of downloads in less than 24 hours in the UAE.