A UAE national has created a game designed to transport players back in time to ride the seas with Ahmed ibn Majid, a famed 15th century navigator and astronomer from Ras Al Khaimah.
Jawar Al Hoot, 27, created the Pearl Game, which he now plays with his friends, to bring the bold history of the nautical region to life.
Born in Julfar in 1421 in what is now Ras Al Khaimah, Ahmed ibn Majid is known as the Lion of the Ocean and is credited with having guided the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama from Africa to India.
In the Pearl Game, players trace the route, and compete to move their ships loaded with cargo through dangers such as pirates, from Dubai to India and Africa and back to the finish line in Dubai.
"It can be a single-player or two-player game," Al Hoot explains.
"The sailor can move from Dubai to Fujairah to collect dates, and travel from there to Oman and India.
"From each port the player collects cargo - dates from Fujairah, frankincense from Yemen, wood and goats from Africa and spices from India," he added.
Al Hoot, who works for the Sharjah Police, said he tried to make the goods and the routes involved historically accurate as he hopes to educate the country's youth about the region's pivotal role in world trade at the time.
"Even before Vasco de Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached Calicut, Arab sailors were masters of the Indian Ocean. Ahmad ibn Majid is known in Western history as the man who guided Vasco da Gama to find his way from the east coast of Africa to India.
"Ibn Majid had accurate knowledge of the sea currents, winds and monsoons. His books on navigation are still useable. I want UAE youth who play this game to remember the great Arab sailor who was an expert astronomer and scholar," Al Hoot said.
While Al Hoot has developed a prototype of the game over the past two years as a board game to play with dice with his friends, he has bigger dreams for the Pearl Game.
Hoping to capture the imagination of today's techsavvy youth, he said he would like to see the game made into an electronic version for the PlayStation or Nintendo console systems.
For now, Al Hoot is continuing to chart new projects to educate Emirati youngsters about their history.
He has written a science fiction story in Arabic about Khalid, a young genius from the UAE, who splits his time between inventing spaceships and struggling with offers from foreign companies hoping to take advantage of his knowledge.
And in an interesting twist, Khalid and his friends play the Pearl Game in the story.
Rules of the game
Players can play alone to see if they can reach the final port on the journey or against a friend to see who completes their voyage first. Ships carry regional specialities as cargo from Dubai to India and back to Dubai, having travelled to Africa along the way. Players also carry pearls on board, which they can trade if they encounter difficulties. Dangers along the way, such as pirates and cyclones, can sink a ship or make a player return to the last port. Players stop at multiple ports in the UAE.
© Emirates Today 2007
