Kashmir youth move from playing games to building them

The Story in Brief

Young people in Kashmir are shifting from mere consumers to creators of digital content, with game development emerging as a practical skill. In September 2025, Srinagar hosted Daydream Srinagar, a two-day game jam affiliated with Hack Club, where students aged 13 to 18 formed teams and built their own games. TechKnow 2025 at Delhi Public School Srinagar also brought together students from over 30 schools for workshops on programming, graphic design and game development. These events show that with online tools and basic equipment, location no longer limits the audience a Kashmiri developer can reach.

The article argues that game development offers a low-barrier entry point to digital skills like coding, animation and design. It highlights that a game created in any part of Kashmir can reach global players, meaning the region’s youth are not confined by geography. The piece stresses that building a game teaches problem-solving and project completion, skills useful beyond the gaming industry. It calls for greater awareness that these abilities can lead to careers in software development, architecture or other fields of the digital economy.