As part of the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and to bring forth the story of the Indian freedom struggle, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur on Wednesday launched “Azadi Quest”, a series of online educational mobile games developed in collaboration with Zynga India.

Launching the games, Thakur said this was another in a series of efforts by the Government to acknowledge the contribution of our freedom fighters and unsung heroes to the freedom struggle.

“These games are an effort to tap into the huge market of online gamers and to educate them through games. Various arms of the Government of India have collected information about unsung freedom fighters from the corners of the country. Azadi Quest is an effort to make the learning of this knowledge engaging and interactive,” the Minister elaborated.

Thakur expressed confidence that people of all age groups will be hooked on to these games and they will become household favorites quickly.

I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra and country head of Zynga India Kishore Kichli were present at the function.

In the past few years India has risen to stand among the top 5 countries in the gaming sector. The gaming sector has grown by 28 per cent in 2021 alone. The number of online gamers has risen by 8 per cent from 2020 to 2021 and by 2023 the number of such gamers is expected to reach 45 crore, the Minister added.

The Azadi Quest games are available for android and iOS devices in English and Hindi for the people of India and will be available worldwide from September 2022. The online gaming company Zynga India was established in 2010 in Bengaluru and has developed some of the most popular game franchises across mobile and web.

First game in the series is Azadi Quest: Match 3 Puzzle, a simple and easy to play casual game presenting the players with the colorful journey of India’s independence from 1857 to 1947. As players progress through the game, spread across 495 levels, they can collect 75 trivia cards, each showcasing key moments in history, compete on leader boards, and share in-game rewards and progress on social media.

On the other hand, Azadi Quest: Heroes of Bharat is designed as a quiz game to test the knowledge of the players about the heroes of India’s independence through 750 questions spread across 75 levels and also tell them about the lesser known heroes through 75 “Azadi Veer” cards which can be shared across social media platforms.