Dubai entrepreneur seeks to inspire other Indian developers with ‘crazy investment’

Dubai resident Atif Khan and his childhood friend Noman Shamsi built the mobile game 'Wheely Bird', and it has already been downloaded more than 1,000 times.

Atif Khan and his friend in Saudi Arabia have developed the Wheely Bird game, which can be downloaded freely through the internet. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

DUBAI // Atif Khan and Noman Shamsi met at primary school in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Two decades later, the lifelong friends from Hyderabad decided they wanted to pursue a business venture together.

They created a gaming app called Wheely Bird, which the friends say is based on their childhood experiences.

“Both of us were like, we’re going to turn 30 and we’re going to do one crazy thing – one crazy investment that can take on the world,” said Mr Khan, 29, who lives in Dubai.

“That process in mind, we went for this entire concept.”

The game’s main character is a yellow bird who has lost his wings due to an ancient curse and must use a wheel instead. Gamers playing through different levels have to make the bird jump on a series of platforms without falling down.

Mr Khan and Mr Shamsi, also 29, wanted the character to have depth and to show a “positive, never-giving-up attitude”, said Mr Khan.

“We have actually gone through some tough times in our childhood,” he said.

He was an average student in school and faced pressure from his family, but that challenge served as inspiration for the character.

“I don’t count the number of times I’ve fallen in life,” said Mr Khan. “I count the number of times I’ve gotten back up.

“We related [the game] to our personal life and created it around that.”

The creators met when they were about eight years old and stayed friends throughout their schooling, then attended university together for computer science in Hyderabad for both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

They are now both married, and Mr Khan lives in Dubai while Mr Shamsi still lives in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Shamsi said he thinks their friendship has lasted so long because of their similar personalities.

“We were always into technology, into gaming, into computers,” he said.

He also faced family pressures in a family with many engineers and doctors, degrees which are highly valued in India, said Mr Shamsi. But they still decided to pursue careers in technology.

“We said, OK, who cares? This is our field, and we have to excel in our field and do not care what others think,” said Mr Shamsi.

Growing up in Saudi Arabia could also be difficult because of more restrictions as compared to India, as well as the language barrier, particularly in the 1990s, he said.

Mr Khan said he hopes their app, which is free with optional in-app purchases and advertisements, can help Indian developers make their mark in casual gaming.

“The one thing we saw was there was a huge potential in casual gaming, especially for mobile gamers,” said Mr Khan.

They sought to create something simple and catchy, yet difficult.

“The Indian community hasn’t really penetrated the market in terms of mobile games,” said Mr Khan.

“We really want to be the first individuals that can take it to that level.”

Games like Angry Birds and Clash of Clans have topped smartphone gaming charts, but are usually created by people from places like Finland or the US, said Mr Khan.

“But it’s never someone from the Indian community that has actually penetrated the top of the charts,” he said.

The game is available on Android and iPhone and has been downloaded more than 1,000 times, said Mr Khan.