This week, Shabjdeed announced the launch of ‘GLG Gaming Community’ in collaboration with Stereo Vision and BLTNM, an online community hosted on Discord and focused on developing online games with an Arabic twist.
The name “GLG”, meaning a tense situation or anxiety derived from the formal Arabic word “qalaq”, has been mentioned in Shabjdeed’s song NKD GLG released in 2019.
Among GLG’s first projects currently underway is The Falafel Game, a fast-paced cooking game inspired by classic early-2000s browser titles.
The Falafel Game has been featured on GLG Youtube channel a number of times as BLTNM members including Fawzi, Daboor, Touch, and Smokaholic test drove the game live on stream.
Most notably, the game was teased several months ago during Sole DXB, where GLG partner Bulfff hosted a live stream alongside Wegz and Shabjdeed. During the stream, the trio played an early version of the game, racing to assemble falafel sandwiches quickly enough to satisfy increasingly impatient characters.
The game draws clear inspiration from simple browser-based titles popular in the early 2000s, such as Hot Dog Bush and Club Sandwich, reinterpreted through familiar local references. Players prepare falafel orders under time pressure, translating a recognizable format into a distinctly regional context.
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According to the announcement post, visualized with redactions, GLG aims to create a space away from the accelerating online noise and the heavy social media presence expected of celebrities and musicians on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, while allowing fan engagement through games, experimentation, and collaborative online culture.
Pop Culture Editor-At-Large at Complex MENA.
