karkaba

Karkaba is a player-versus-player mobile game built in Arabic, for Arabic players — not translated into it after the fact. As far as I can tell, it’s the first of its kind.

why§

Most games that reach the region arrive already finished, with Arabic bolted on at the end. The jokes don’t land, the rhythm is wrong, and everyone can tell. Karkaba starts from the other direction.

where it is§

• Core PVP loop — built
• Art direction — in progress
• Shop and economy — in design
• Soft launch — planned

notes from building it§

Games teach you things writing doesn’t. A reader will forgive a slow chapter. A player will not forgive a slow second of loading. That pressure has made me a blunter writer, which I think is a good trade. See Playtesting KarkabaPlaytesting Karkaba
Had a handful of people playtest an early build of Karkaba this week, and watching them play told me more than any of my own notes did. People fall into it fast — a round or two to get the rhythm, then they stop asking how it works and just start talking trash to whoever they’re playing against. Tha… and Karkaba’s loop finally clicksKarkaba’s loop finally clicks
Karkaba’s core loop finally feels right. Six months of it feeling almost right. Almost right is worse than clearly broken — broken tells you where to go..

Day-to-day build notes and playtest reactions live on notesnotes
Click a title to open it as a new column. Playtesting Karkaba · A pass on Elixir 181 · Building the reader editions · Karkaba’s loop finally clicks · Reading about water rights Older notes archived.. What’s built versus what’s left is tracked on nownow
What I’m actually spending my time on at the moment, as opposed to what I’d like to claim I’m spending it on. writing Salsabil: The Blue Gold — drafting. The water-scarcity novel. Slow going, but the shape is finally there. Neanderthal — revising the second half, the one told in Kassandra’s voice. R….

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