The National Museum of Saudi Arabia uses AI and gaming to turn artefacts into interactive experiences for youth

The National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh brought together 120 adolescents aged 12 to 14 for the fourth edition of its summer programme, Tik Tak: Your Game, turning historical artefacts into physical and digital interactive games using AI character generation tools, virtual reality technologies, and audio engineering. Participants were split into two consecutive cohorts of 60 over two weeks, drawing on museum holdings that include Najran rock inscriptions, the clawed lion statue, and the treasures of the Lady of Thaj to develop visual concepts and digital character prototypes that reinterpret heritage through a contemporary creative lens.

The museum's creative programmes and events department explained that the curriculum prioritises narrative before code, beginning with research into the age group's interests and national cultural themes. The summer track has evolved across four consecutive editions, starting with Name, Animal, Thing in 2023, followed by Once Upon a Storyteller in 2024, Made in the Museum in 2025, and the current edition. The programme spans three main tracks: Game Creators, for designing hybrid board games that combine virtual reality headsets with physical pieces; World Builders, for constructing 3D environments and heritage challenges on Roblox; and Puzzle Makers, for producing cultural escape boxes based on clues and riddles built around the stories of the exhibits.

Participants progress through four integrated creative stages modelled on archaeological workflows: the spark, encoding, programming, and testing.The journey begins in the exhibition halls with selecting an artefact for inspiration, followed by translating the concept into rules and narrative challenges, moving into programming and generating audiovisual effects, and concluding with playtesting and exhibition prep. The museum provides participants with a practical guide to continue developing their projects after the camp ends, with each participant leaving with a 3D printed character, a QR code to share their digital game, and a fully completed escape box or board game.

This edition featured collaboration with specialised Saudi studios, including Sadu Studio for games rooted in local culture, the Lamba Innovation Center, and Takween Creative Studio. Investment firm Merak Capital also brought in company founders from its 80 million dollar Merak Gaming Fund portfolio, which is backed by the National Development Fund and the Social Development Bank under the gaming and esports sector financing initiative. Representatives from studios including Khosoof, Spoilz, Evolite, Symmetric, Entropy Minds, 2090 Creative, HYS Games, and Qiddu Education took part in evaluating the games, providing direct feedback on gameplay mechanics, storytelling, and problem solving.

Building a local gaming ecosystem begins with cultivating creative curiosity and converting consumption into production and entrepreneurship skills.Reema Al-Yahya, principal at Merak Capital, noted that the assessment of youth projects focused on creative thinking and the ability to articulate the underlying logic of each game. She emphasised that young people's engagement with gaming across the Kingdom provides fertile ground to prepare the next generation of developers, designers, and storytellers, positioning them to build studios that take Saudi heritage to global interactive entertainment platforms.