Titled Relooted, the game was developed by the Johannesburg-based studio Nyamakop and launched on 10 February across multiple platforms. Players take on the roles of characters from different African countries tasked with discreetly recovering 70 artefacts, including a Yehoti mask from Burkina Faso, Congolese ishango sticks, and a Ngadji drum from Kenya.
Set in the late 21st century, Relooted imagines a world where global treaties require museums to return African cultural items. When museums attempt to circumvent the rules by removing works from public display, players’ characters must pull off a series of high-stakes “rescue missions.”
“This isn’t just a heist: it’s a rescue mission,” reads the game’s trailer, highlighting the creators’ play on the idea of restitution. One character even asks, “But is it really theft if it was already stolen?”—capturing the game’s central moral question.
Beyond the heist mechanics, the developers emphasized authentic representation. Ben Myres, Nyamakop co-founder, said the team made a deliberate choice to ensure that all playable characters are African and Black, reflecting the continent’s diversity. “We wanted characters with distinct regional accents and cultural backgrounds, from a Cameroonian francophone to an Angolan English-African accent,” Myres told RFI.
The game’s soundtrack also prioritizes African culture, featuring only traditional instruments and modern synthesizers, deliberately excluding Western orchestral sounds. “African culture is magnificent and profoundly interesting,” Myres said. “This game is an entry point for players worldwide to learn about the continent.”
Producer Sithe Ncube added that creating a story written by Africans for a global audience is a form of activism. “Our stories and experiences are often underrepresented in the gaming industry, and competing with large Western studios is challenging,” she said.
Despite its empowering premise, Relooted has sparked debate among some players. Critics argue that portraying African characters as thieves could be counterproductive or reinforce stereotypes. Ncube responded that the game’s value lies in raising awareness about real artefacts and the ongoing restitution debate.
Globally, more than 85% of African cultural heritage resides outside the continent. France alone houses an estimated 90,000 objects from sub-Saharan Africa, prompting political efforts to return them. French President Emmanuel Macron pledged in 2017 to return African heritage within five years, influencing similar initiatives in Belgium, Germany, and other former colonial powers.
Through gameplay, Relooted combines entertainment with education, giving players an interactive lens on history, cultural identity, and the ethics of restitution.