Where the audience becomes the contestant

The lights dim. Dramatic music begins to build as giant digital screens flicker to life. Around the room, teams exchange nervous glances while colourful player names and avatars appear on interactive game stations. Moments later, the first challenge flashes across the screen. A countdown begins. Within seconds, the leaderboard changes, cheers erupt from one corner of the room and laughter follows from another. Before anyone realises it, strangers are debating answers, colleagues are celebrating clever plays and families are urging one another on.
It feels remarkably like stepping into a television game show.

Except there are no spectators.
This is Game of Minds, an interactive live game show in Muscat where every guest becomes a contestant. Operating daily from 1 pm to 10 pm at Al Khuwair Complex, the experience combines giant interactive screens, cinematic lighting, live scoring and fast-paced challenges.
Yet behind the flashing scoreboards and dramatic countdowns lies a surprisingly simple idea.
'In today's world, people spend more time looking at their phones than interacting with each other', says founder Mohamed Fikry Mohamed Fouad. 'I wanted to create something that keeps everyone actively involved from beginning to end'.
That belief sits at the heart of everything Game of Minds has become.
Growing up in an Egyptian family that encouraged creativity, entrepreneurship and continuous learning, Fouad built a career spanning business development, event management, technology and experience design.

'For many years, I have been passionate about understanding what creates memorable human experiences', he says. 'That passion eventually led me to develop Game of Minds'.
Rather than watching contestants compete on stage, every visitor becomes part of the action. Teams answer questions in real time, solve visual puzzles, test their memory, react under pressure and use strategic power-ups that can dramatically alter the leaderboard. Knowledge helps, but it is only one part of the challenge.
Instead of rewarding only the person with the most facts at their fingertips, the experience has been designed so that observation, communication, logic, creativity and quick decision-making all carry equal weight.
'Our goal isn't simply to find the smartest person in the room', he explains. 'It's to create the most exciting shared experience possible'.

That philosophy also means every session feels different. Categories range from science and history to films, geography, technology and sport, while surprise mini-games keep players guessing throughout.
One moment they might be racing to identify subtle differences between two nearly identical images. The next, they are trying to crack a secret number using colour-coded clues, memorise increasingly complex light sequences or convince other players through carefully crafted bluffs.
'The variety is one of the biggest reasons people come back', Fouad says. 'They know every visit offers something new'.
Every player has the chance to contribute.
Traditional quiz nights often favour whoever possesses the widest general knowledge. Here, someone with quick reactions, a sharp memory or strong teamwork skills can be just as valuable as the history enthusiast or science expert.

That broad appeal is precisely what convinced Fouad that Oman was the right place to launch the concept.
Muscat's multicultural population, combined with growing demand for indoor activities during the warmer months, presented what he saw as the perfect opportunity.
The venue welcomes everyone from birthday celebrations and family outings to school groups and corporate team-building events.
Families, meanwhile, often discover that the playing field is unexpectedly level.
For him, however, success is measured long before anyone lifts a winner's trophy.
His favourite moment comes in the closing stages of the game, when carefully built leads can disappear in an instant.

'The leaderboard changes dramatically in the final rounds', he says. 'You can see excitement, laughter, suspense and teamwork all happening at once. People suddenly realise that anyone can still win'.
When the final scores are announced, he notices something else.
Players rarely head straight for the exit.
Instead, they gather in small groups replaying the experience they have just shared—laughing about the questions they missed, debating the strategies that worked, joking about unexpected blunders and already planning another visit.
'That's exactly what we wanted to create', Fouad says. 'Not just a game, but a shared experience people continue talking about long after they've left.' Perhaps that is Game of Minds' biggest achievement.