Taking Back What Was Always Ours: Relooted, Representation, and the Rise of African Gaming
There are certain games that feel bigger, have an impact beyond their own release, and can spark a cultural shift – Relooted is one of those games.
Relooted is an Afro-futurist game where you recruit a crew, plan an escape, and reclaim real African artefacts from Western museums.
But it goes beyond just taking back stolen artefacts, its meaning runs far deeper than gameplay. It speaks to something much larger: the act of taking back our narrative. For too long, African history, culture, and identity has been framed through an external lens.
This game disrupts that pattern. It tells a story rooted in agency, dignity, and, most importantly, ownership.
As a British Ghanaian, I have grown up hearing Akan folklore like Anansi the spider, the trickster and storyteller. I was working on a project so I walked into Waterstones to enquire about a book about Anansi, much to my dismay, I was directed to Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys, which had been repackaged – relooted, one might say to Mr Nancy. Anansi had been transformed, distorted into something more palatable for Western audiences. It reminded me how often African stories are co-opted and repackaged in ways that detach from their original and true origins. Not only losing their true cultural significance, but also removing the credit and ownership from their true creators.
These ‘Relooted’ stories are one of many, which is why a game like Relooted is so incredibly important. It is a testament to the talent, creativity, and innovation that has always been prevalent on the African continent. It changes the narrative from merely being a consumer of games to being a creator. This is the crucial difference because stories shape power. Who tells them. Who owns them and who profits from them.
Relooted represents a future in which African studios are not just contributors to the global industry but leaders within it. Where African stories are not filtered through Western frameworks, but expressed through lived experience.
And in reclaiming stolen artefacts within the game, there is a powerful symbolic parallel: we are also reclaiming our history, our narratives, and our right to define ourselves.
As someone who splits my time between Accra and London, I am committed to supporting the growth of the gaming ecosystem in Ghana and across the African continent. It is about ensuring that African gaming communities are not isolated from global opportunities and that global industries are not disconnected from African realities.
I believe that with the right infrastructure, knowledge sharing and long-term investment. We can take the right steps to a truly global market.
Relooted stands as proof of what happens when stories come from within communities, not about them. About when organisations receive the right funding, exposure and opportunities.
Relooted is out today [Tuesday 10th of February 2026]
I am Annabel or creativelyanzy as I’m known online! I am the founder of Melanin Gamers: a gaming community that promotes diversity and inclusivity in the video games industry, with a special focus on content creators; whiles also providing a safe space for people of colour to come together and game
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