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The development community in Africa is growing, causing a lot of excitement as our own games gain attention around the world. #Trending asked Nyamakop’s Ben Myres which games we already love and should be playing – and those we should be looking out for:
Rangi (Morocco)
Visit: rangigame.com
Rangi is a virtual reality (VR) adventure puzzle game exploring a vivid and colourful setting inspired by tribal art, ancient architecture, rhythmic music and African landscapes. Myres says Rangi is probably the first major African VR game available on all VR stores. “It was featured quite strongly by PlayStation, which is usually a pretty strong indicator of quality, and that featuring usually helps the game sell well too.”
Aurion (Cameroon)
Visit: aurionthegame.com
Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan is a 2-D African action role-playing video game (RPG) and the first game to come from a Central African developer. Cameroonian studio Kiro’o Games launched it after a successful kickstarter campaign in 2015. The action RPG was praised for its interesting take on real-time combo-driven combat, similar to Bandai Namco’s Tales Of series and a rich story rooted in African mythos. The rights to Aurion have been sold to make a Hollywood movie.
Shakara (Nigeria)
Visit: play.google.com
With more than 50 000 downloads on Google Play, Shakara – African Dress Up and Fashion is one of Myres’ personal favourites because of the important representational work contained in the game. This is the first dress-up game for girls featuring African outfits, all lovely ankara prints as you dress Kiki. Shakara is for the girl who loves African fashion and traditional styles.
CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT:
Dahalo (Madagascar)
Visit: lomay.fr/dahalo
Dahalo is an action-adventure game developed by Lomay – named after the Malagasy bandits, zebu thieves that are present in the south of Madagascar, believed to be powerful and invincible. Though still in development, Myres thinks it looks quite beautiful and promising. “It is rarely attempted with much success in Africa and it seems to be pulling it off.”
Sunjata – Trumpet of Last Day (Uganda)
Visit: sunjatatold.com
Sunjata takes place in a fantasy version of Great Ancient Africa and is about a warrior named Kaar Menelik and his adventure to save the people of the land from the wrath of the old gods. “Still in development as well and hard to tell how good the gameplay will be, but it looks quite beautiful and it’s always great to see more African culture represented in games,” Myres says.
