Endgame: Syria Allows Gamers To Fight As Rebels

A new video game based on Syria's civil war allows players to choose whether to negotiate with President Bashar al Assad or send jihadist fighters to target his regime.

The British designer of Endgame: Syria said he hopes the game will inform people who might otherwise be ignorant about the conflict.

But computer giant Apple has refused to distribute the game and others have criticised it for focusing on a conflict that has killed more than 60,000 people since March 2011.

Tomas Rawlings, who designed the game, said he got the idea while watching a debate on the consequences of arming Syria's rebels.

"For those who don't want to read a newspaper but still care about the world, this is a way for them to find out about things," he said.

In the game, the player commands rebels seeking to topple Mr Assad's regime.

They must choose how the rebel force responds to regime actions and will see sympathy and support for their faction affected as a result.

Mr Rawlings, design and production editor of Auroch Digital, added: "You can win the battle militarily but still lose the peace because the cost of winning militarily has fractured the country so much that the war keeps going."

The game was released as a free download on December 12 from the company website.