A few of our panellists work at studios that made our Top 30 MENA Game Makers of 2026. Make sure to check out the full list to see the region’s leading studios.

At Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan in Amman (November 7th and 8th), the panel 'Art Creation for Mobile Games' will explore how creating art for mobile differs from console and PC, from efficient workflows to keeping visual quality high on limited hardware and scaling art production.

As a teaser ahead of the event, panellists Gada Jermy of AJ+, Ahmad Abu AlRuz and Marwan Mahjoob of Mad Hook, Ruslan Boulad of Air Castle Studio and Danar Kayfi of Istikan Studio share how they win players on a small screen.

Gada Jermy, digital artist at AJ+, says the biggest lesson for game artists is that “grabbing attention and keeping attention are two different things".

“As an illustrator and storyteller, I believe a good visual should tell us something immediately,” she says. “It could be a funny expression, an interesting composition, a small detail that makes us curious, or simply something we can relate to.”

The same applies to mobile games. “We don’t always need more details, brighter colours or complicated designs to make something interesting. Sometimes, removing unnecessary details makes the important things stand out even more.”

She adds: “A beautiful image can make someone stop and look. But a good story gives them a reason to stay.”

Danar Kayfi , studio manager at Istikan Studio , builds games in Erbil, where the games industry is still young.

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