Original Story Published by: Bamuturaki Musinguzi for The East African
Photo Source: Masseka Game Studio
(Above) Teddy Kossoko, the developer of the video game, Kissoro Tribal Game, that has taken Africa by storm.
Born in the Central African Republic, Teddy Kossoko was sent to France in 2012 by his parents to study computer science and he was introduced to gaming culture there.
Kossoko, now aged 23, has a degree in Computer Science and Business Management.
He was motivated to develop the “Kissoro Tribal Game” to address the prevailing ignorance and misunderstanding of Africa in Europe.
“In France, I noticed four things quickly: Many people did not know that my country exists; for many people, Africa is like some black box and they do not know exactly what is going on in it. This blocks a lot of opportunities. I also noticed that video games in the West are a powerful medium that has the ability to capture people’s attention; and despite the development in Africa of smartphones, the world of video games is struggling to develop here,” he says.
“I decided to use the power of video games to bring Africa to the West and develop video games on Africa,” Kossoko added.
He partnered with Matthieu Acloque to create the game. It took three years.
“Matthieu is the second graphic designer of the game. He is one of the first people who believed in the project. He gave life to all my ideas. It is one of the reasons for the success of this project. All Africans praised the quality of his work. He encouraged me not to give up. He has learned a lot about Africa and some day, I will persuade him to visit the continent,” he said.
Two days after its release, Apple featured the game in the top strategy games in France.
Kissoro is an African strategy game. It belongs to the Mancala family of board games, and has been played for centuries in almost all African countries. The object of the game is to capture all of an opponent’s pawns to stop him/her moving.
To read the full article, visit The East African.
Related
