Mayen was born on the way to a refugee camp (难民营) in Uganda during wartime. His parents fled from South Sudan and its decades-long civil war. For 22 of his 24 years of life, he grew up there, with no electricity. When Mayen saw a laptop at a registration station for the refugee camp, he told his mother he wanted one. She saved up for three years to buy one for him. When she gave it to him in 2013 , he burst into tears.
He took it to an Internet café, charged his computer and discovered the joy of playing games. He didn’t know how video games were made. But he knew in his heart he wanted to learn to code.
He needed instruction. A friend gave him coding tutorials as well as a copy of video game: Grand Theft Auto, which encourages players to take violent actions. But as a child born in a violent war, Mayen thought about how to create a game that could inspire peace. He taught himself to make games and formed his own company, Junub Games.
“I realized the power of gaming,” he said. “Games can be helpful for peace and conflict resolution.”
With the inspiration, he created a game called Salaam (an Arabic word that means peace), about protecting communities from destruction. Mayen shared the game on his Facebook page, and that’s when he started attracting international attention.
In 2018, Mayen appeared at The Game Awards in Los Angeles, where he was named a Global Gaming Citizen for using gaming to promote “positivity” and community. His vision is to use the game to inspire empathy for refugees. He’s working on a charitable component so that when players make in-app purchases of extra resources in the game, a portion would go to an organization at a refugee camp. In this way, they’re supporting actual refugees’ lives.
Mayen now lives in Washington, D.C. working with a small team on a virtual reality game. “Maybe one day, my dream will come true, making the biggest video game studio that makes games for peace,” Mayen said.
1. Mayen’s journey to becoming a game developer can be described as ________.
A.rare and amazing | B.smooth and lucky |
C.rocky and rough | D.painful and tearful |
2. What inspired Mayen to make the game Salaam?
A.His dream to distinguish himself in the field. |
B.Games’ power of promoting peace and community. |
C.His hope to earn enough money to support his family. |
D.Games’ function as a charitable activity. |
3. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A.A Man’s Struggle for Peace. |
B.From Refugee Camp to Washington D. C. |
C.A Man’s Road to Success. |
D.From Refugee to Game Developer. |