I am Sondos Al Rqibat, I hold a bachelor degree in Design and Visual Communication from Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST). My experience includes 3 years of design projects with teaching experience in design courses.

My study and work with JUST included many activities targeting the site of Umm Qais. This led to creating great fascination with ancient Gadara and of all the history of that beautiful city. I became enthusiastic to share the beauty of Gadara with all visitors of Umm Qais. The greatest obstacle against my target was to overcome people’s lack of interest in reading traditional leaflets; the gamification concept seemed to offer a solution. I joined forces with Rand Agha in one team and we applied to the MED GAIMS hackathon, and this is where the game of Gadara Spinner Story began.

Sadly, it seemed that tourists were not fully remembering the places they visited. They would hear interesting stories, yet would easily forget them. So, my focus was on providing unforgettable experiences to Umm Qais visitors.

The goal of developing a game to educate, entertain and help people to appreciate their culture and history soon expanded to include the establishment of a games startup company. Other Jordanian historic sites deserved to get as much attention as Umm Qais. Also, the company would provide job opportunities for fresh graduates.

In the end, MED GAIMS gave me the biggest support to achieve my dream, and the hackathon grant helped me to identify and overcome the barriers I faced when I decided to implement Gadara Spinner; THANK YOU MED GAIMS…