Retrieve African artifacts from colonizers' museums in the heist game Relooted

Heist game Relooted by Nyamakop reclaims African artifacts from Western museums.

: Relooted is an intriguing heist game developed by the independent South African studio Nyamakop, where players attempt to recover African artifacts from Western museums. The game features puzzle and action elements, requiring players to strategize the best approach to infiltrate and escape each mission. Set against the background of a fictional treaty that intended Western nations to return the artifacts, the narrative underlines the persistent issue of cultural heritage retention. Nyamakop, known for its previous game Semblance, emphasizes diversity with a majority POC team creating an inherently African experience.

Relooted is an ambitious heist game that tells the story of reclaiming African artifacts from Western museums and private collections. Developed by South African studio Nyamakop, the game operates in a world where Western nations have begrudgingly signed a treaty to return looted artifacts to African regions. However, the narrative spiral comes from the refusal of many to adhere to this plan, as Western leaders are retaining these culturally significant items in private collections. This leaves players with the challenge of strategically retrieving these cultural treasures one heist at a time.

Relooted is designed in a mission-based format, where players receive briefings on each artifact, plan their infiltration, and then partake in the action-puzzle-oriented gameplay. Once players snatch their target artifact, they must make a quick escape within a limited time, making it essential for players to be well-prepared with their heist plans. The game highlights real-world statistics, such as producer Sithe Ncube's mention of a pivotal 2018 report that reveals 90% of sub-Saharan Africa's cultural heritage resides in Western collections.

Nyamakop's previous success with the game Semblance, which was the first African-developed IP to make it to a Nintendo console, proved its commitment to breaking new grounds in the global gaming industry. Co-founder Ben Myres detailed the challenges in the burgeoning independent game dev scene in South Africa at Engadget E3 2018, explaining the daunting entry curve to reach Western markets without local representation by large gaming platforms like Xbox or PlayStation.

An allusion to current cultural dialogues, Relooted features 70 real artifacts that currently sit in Western institutions, invoking an emotional and cultural connection in players, who are encouraged to bring them back to their rightful homes. As the game is developed by a diverse team with a majority-POC composition, it authentically reflects African stories and contexts, as emphasized by Myres and Ncube in discussions with media outlets.

Available on platforms like Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Xbox Series X/S, Relooted is a quintessential African game, constructed to resonate both with players from the continent and to attract the Western audience, prompting them to reflect on cultural restitution. Nyamakop has significantly matured since 2018, and its current project Relooted is a testament to its growth, expertise, and dedication to storytelling with African roots and perspectives.

Sources: Engadget, Nyamakop

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