Dreams on a Pillow

Dreams on a Pillow
DeveloperRasheed Abueideh
PublisherRasheed Abueideh
PlatformWindows
ReleaseQ4 2026
GenreStealth
ModeSingle-player

Dreams on a Pillow is an upcoming 2.5D stealth game developed by Rasheed Abueideh. It follows Omm, a woman attempting flee from her home in Palestine to Lebanon during the Nakba. The game is scheduled to release in late 2026 on Windows.

Setting

Inspired by Palestinian folk tale, Dreams on a Pillow is set in 1948 during the Nakba.[1][2] After the killing of her husband by a zionist militia in al-Tantura, Omm runs home to get her newborn son, but in the panic mistakenly picks up a pillow instead.[3][4] She flees to Lebanon with the pillow, having becomes emotionally attached to it.[3][4] During gameplay, Omm experiences hallucinations when not holding the pillow but is unable to perform certain actions while holding it.[4][5][6] Each level, Omm enters a dream state portraying her childhood in pre-Nakba Palestine.[7][8][9] The gameplay takes place in a 2.5D perspective[1] and uses color to contrast a vibrant pre-Nakba environment and a grayscale post-Nakba environment.[4] Events portrayed in the game include the Tantura massacre, Atlit concentration camp, the Fall of Haifa, and the poisoning of Acre.[10][6]

Development

Developer Rasheed Abueideh is based in Nablus,[11] and released Liyla and the Shadows of War in 2016.[7][12] Despite support for the game, he struggled to find funding partners to develop future games, and opened a nut roastery in the West Bank.[11][13] His roastery shut down due to attacks by Israeli settlers making travel to the roastery unsafe, leading Abueideh to return to video game development.[3][13] He announced the game in November 2024 through crowdfunding platform LaunchGood.[14][15] According to Abueideh, other crowdfunding platforms had refused his project.[8][16] By the end of November 2024, it had raised US$49,000.[3] The campaign reached its fundraising goal of US$200,000 in January 2025[10][6] and closed its campaign after raising US$244,000.[16][17] The game received support from Palestinian Voices in Games, an international professional support network for Palestinian game developers launched in September 2025.[18][19] The network helped secure additional resources and recruit volunteer artists and animators to assist in production of the game.[1][20] A second round of funding is planned before the game's release to raise a total of US$495,000.[4][21]

Abueideh stated that he aimed to disprove the Zionist phrase "a land without a people for a people without a land" by utilizing historical documentation and imagery.[7][8] He also aimed to show the psychological and mental impact of the Nakba on civilians.[22][8] Abueideh stated that the pillow in the game represents the "lost dream of Palestine and also the future dream as well."[23] Inspirations for the game include the depiction of mental health and psychological struggles in Hellblade, the perspective and narrative style of Oxenfree, and the wordless storytelling of Ico.[24]

Release

The game is scheduled to release in late 2026 on Windows, with console releases planned in the future.[25][4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Vieversys, Ignas (2025-10-10). ""Usually, we're not on the map." How a new initiative is platforming Palestinian developers". GamesIndustry. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  2. ^ Blake, Vikki (2024-12-20). "Palestinian pseudo-3D stealth game Dreams on a Pillow looks set to hit £150K crowdfund target early". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  3. ^ a b c d Serin, Kaan (2024-11-30). "A veteran Palestinian developer living under occupation is crowdfunding a "pseudo-3D stealth" game to "share the catastrophe that has haunted generations"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Elbaz, Manar (13 May 2025). "Upcoming video game highlights Nakba's emotional turmoil on Palestinians". Arab News Japan. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  5. ^ Zaabi, Faisal Al (February 15, 2025). "Nakba video game raises more than $200,000". The National. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  6. ^ a b c Chalk, Andy (2025-01-10). "Palestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 Nakba". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  7. ^ a b c Carpenter, Nicole (2025-01-07). "Historical Palestinian game Dreams on a Pillow surpasses funding goal". Polygon. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  8. ^ a b c d Oxford, Dwayne. "What is 'Dreams on a Pillow', the Palestinian game about the Nakba?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  9. ^ Couture, Joel (2024-12-30). "'Dreams on a Pillow' - History & Guilt Through a Mother's Flight". Indie Games Plus. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  10. ^ a b Lipscombe, Dan (8 Jan 2025). "Historical tragedy retold as video game meets crowdfunding goal". Gaming Bible. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  11. ^ a b MacDonald, Keza (2025-01-09). "'Talking about the Palestinian story was forbidden': a developer's struggle to make a game about the 1948 Nakba". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  12. ^ Kriel, Zaid (2025-01-13). "Dreams on a Pillow: Making Games Mean Something More". IGN Africa. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  13. ^ a b Reuben, Nic (2025-01-09). "Dreams On A Pillow's developer on the challenges of making games from the West Bank". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  14. ^ Feuerstein, Oded (February 6, 2025). "Would You Play a Video Game That Lets You Experience the Palestinian Nakba?". Haaretz. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  15. ^ Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (2024-11-29). "Dreams On A Pillow is a game about the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the creator of Liyla And The Shadows Of War". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  16. ^ a b Blake, Vikki (2025-01-15). "Palestinian game developer concludes crowdfund almost $50,000 over goal". GamesIndustry. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  17. ^ Kirn, Peter (2025-01-13). "Palestinian game Dreams on a Pillow is on its last day of crowdfunding". CDM. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  18. ^ Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (2025-09-19). "Creators of Reigns, Streets of Rage and Saturnalia launch Palestinian Voices in Gaming to support indies from Gaza and the West Bank". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  19. ^ Kerr, Chris (September 19, 2025). "Game professionals form coalition to 'push against the dehumanization of Palestinians'". Game Developer. Archived from the original on 2025-09-20. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  20. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (2025-09-25). "New Coalition Seeks To Help Palestinian Game Developers 'Speak Loudly' Through Games". Aftermath. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  21. ^ Kerr, Chris (January 14, 2025). "Dreams on a Pillow raises $240,000 to spotlight 'two decades of untold Palestinian history'". Game Developer. Archived from the original on 2025-07-30. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  22. ^ Cheema, Sukhbir (2025-01-22). ""It's A Heavy Story" — Video Game On The Horrors Of Palestine's Nakba Is In The Works". Says. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  23. ^ Hobbs, Thomas (2025-06-11). "The video game telling the story of the 1948 Nakba". Hyphen. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  24. ^ "Hi, I'm Rasheed Abueideh, a Palestinian game developer living in Palestine. I'm the creator of Liyla and the Shadows of War—a game that Apple famously banned and later reinstated. I'm now working on my latest project, Dreams on a Pillow, which has already surpassed $215K through crowdfunding. AMA!". Reddit. 11 Jan 2025. Archived from the original on 2025-01-26. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  25. ^ Gg, Xtina (2024-12-28). "Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the 1948 Nakba, is the latest from a daring dev". Polygon. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
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