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- Israeli Indie #10 - Scramballed: Chicken Tennis!
Israeli Indie #10 - Scramballed: Chicken Tennis!
Two childhood friends from Jerusalem set out to make a game about chickens playing tennis. Amir Blum and Simon Gross launched their first title on the Nintendo Switch Shop—and built a game dev community along the way. Their journey might just change how you think about creativity, challenges, and what success really means.
Amir Blum and Simon Gross
In the heart of Jerusalem, childhood friends Amir and Simon turned their shared love for games into something bigger: a thriving local scene. Their journey has always been about creating - stories, friendships, games and opportunities. They released Scramballed together - a wild, egg-smashing party game for the Nintendo Switch and PC. Built through late nights, setbacks, and plenty of reworks, Scramballed became much more than just a chaotic game about Tennis with chickens and eggs - it was a crash course in indie game development. |  Simon Gross (left) and Amir Blum |
Juggling freelance work, community-building and personal life, Amir and Simon learned tough lessons about design, scope and perseverance. This experience hatched a deeper understanding of what it takes to finish a game.
We sat down with them to hear about the games they made, and the community they built along the way: MakeGamesJLM, a growing hub for aspiring game developers in Jerusalem.
“Let’s make games together”
Amir and Simon first met in high school. Their friendship began when Amir urged Simon to continue a short story Simon wrote for an English class assignment, and the two ended up writing a seven-chapter book titled Prophecies of Redemption. It was the start of a lifelong friendship built on imagination, storytelling, and making things together. The two friends created Flash animations, skits with friends, and whatever else sparked their interest. “It’s all sitting on an old hard drive I might someday connect and sort through,” Amir laughs.