Top 10 African Video Games
Suggested by SMSMost of the games made in Africa are single platform and the most popular platform is PC due to cost. Even that can be a challenge for African game developers because of slow internet and the lack of the availability of technology of the player. Yet the developers persevere.
The criteria of the list isn’t quite the same as Western games. It isn’t fair to compare games made in the West; to those made in Africa because of the difference in money, interest, and technology. One of the key elements of games made in Africa is showing other developers that it is possible to make games in Africa. Other key elements to what makes a great African video game is availability, cost, and platform, and technology.
1. Africa
Africa is a MMORPG (Massively Multiuser Online Role Playing Game) set in 13th century Africa. The premise of the game is that you want to protect your people and conquer enemies while participating in the everyday activities of the time like farming. The game was created for PC by the grandson of a Ghana king who now lives in Atlanta Georgia. What qualifies it as one of the top African video games is that it allows the Western world to be connected to and understand Africa. This in turn, spurs more interest in the African gaming industry.
2. Final Armada
Final Armada is a Transformeresque game in which the main character’s vehicle is called Aggressor. She is a powerful and sophisticated transforming combat vehicle of mass destruction that can transform between a wheeled vehicle and a hover craft. The game is set in the future where humans and aliens fight over energy sources. It is put out by I-Imagine out of South Africa. The game is the first PS2 game to come out of the region. The game has been reimaged and released for PSP, making it also the first PSP game to come out of South Africa.
3. Adventures of Nyangi
Adventures of Nyangi is a 3D action-adventure video game where the main character, Nyangi, has to find some rare African artifacts. It was created by a Kenyan programmer, Wesley Kiriiny, out of Nairobi. By Western standards, the game is lacking, with no music, little story line and little character development. The game is unique because Kiriiny created the engine that powers the software’s code, rather than downloading one of the many serviceable engines available on the Internet. The makers tried to focus on African traditions and myths in the games rural setting. Although the game doesn’t meet the full requirements of a Western story, it shows the potential of the untapped stories that can come out of Africa with its unique and rich culture.
4. Toxic Bunny
Toxic Bunny’s protagonist is a jack rabbit named Toxic. The premise of the game is that Toxic is on a hunt for the person or animal responsible for interrupting his coffee break, brainwashing all his friends, and covering the planet with a decaffeinated goo. It was produced by a company based out of South Africa called Celestial games. It was originally released for PC in 1996. There was supposed to be a sequel released for Xbox, but the game was canceled. Recently the makers of the game had another opportunity to continue game by revamping it into a HD version, one of the few to come out of Africa, with a more in depth and more comedic story line.
5. 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa’s subject is pretty self explanatory. The game was developed in the states. So why is it a top African video game? First off, the game is set in South Africa. Second, Soccer, or as it’s called in Africa, futbol, is as popular as football is in the states. The game’s popularity in Africa is like Madden games in the states. The game is also available on multiple platforms, including PC. This availability helps make the game quite popular.
6. The Sword of Sygos
The Sword of Sygos was made in Ghana, but is set in ancient Rome. The King of Rome, Aribanis and his son Horutius, has their kingdom under attack by an evil dark force, Antobis, and his army. Only Horutius, with the Sword of Sygos, can destroy him. The game was created in Ghana for a contest to try to promote the IT sector in the country. Even though the founders of the competition did not get the response they were looking for from the students of Africa, a great game was created. It was one of the first 3D games to come out of Africa, if not the first. It is great in that it shows that it is possible to make games in Ghana, a country with almost no video game industry, and threats of banning video game centers. The 3D game is now also used as a learning tool.
7. Chase
Chase was put out by I-Imagine, South Africa’s first console developer based out of Johannesburg. Set in Hollywood, the main character, Chase, is a woman stunt driver. It focuses on stunts of four movie sets. The game did not fare well with Western players, whom complained the game was too short and was not multiplayer. Despite this, it is a great African video game. It is a little dated now, but it is one of the few games made in Africa for Xbox.
8. iWarrior
iWarrior is a game for iphone with great African art and sounds. The goal is to protect the village from Africa’s most feared wild animals. The game is created by Leti games out of Ghana. Mobile phone games are the most widely played games in Africa, especially in the poorer regions. This is one of the top games in Africa because of its availability and rural African scenes.
9. Far Cry 2
Far Cry 2 takes place in a modern-day African nation which is in a state of anarchy and civil war. The goal of the game is for the protagonist mercenary to take out the arms dealer, the Jackal. The first person shooter game features beautiful scenes from Africa. When the game first came out, it was popular in South Africa. This was in part because of its availability on the PC. But since its release, the western game’s popularity has declined, with few people still playing online.
10. Circus Pomché
Circus Pompché calls itself an out of the box puzzle game. The protagonist, Mr Pomché, is on a quest to save the life of a helpless soul. During this quest he encounters thirty levels of puzzles in this tropical African setting. The game was released by Bash Games out of South Africa for Windows. Despite the popularity of flash games in Africa, the availability of this free downloadable game makes it able to compete with the flash game market in Africa.
This is a great article, very interesting, how about simple games from Africa, don’t you know the list? p’se make a list of them, i know 2 games made from Tanzania, KASUKU GAME 1.1 and FRUIT11 GAME, One of the website selling them is http://www.downloadpipe.com. I wish i hear more from this site.
Hi innocent, that is a great idea. I will start planning a list about games developed in africa. Thanks
Thank you for your reply Luther Avery, I will keep on visiting this site to grasp more from you!
I’m honored to have my game on the list. Just to mentioned, I teamed up with Eyram Tawia who developed Sword of Sygos and we now have a Game Development Studio in Ghana called Leti Games. We developed the iWarrior game that is also in the list.
8~)
Thanks for stopping by. May I ask which game did you develop.
hey guys.check this ghanaian game developers at http://www.triggerpixels.com that created a fps 3d enhanced and action packed game called blacksheep.and their architectural virtualization project.