Relooted: This Heist Game Isn't About the Loot, Mate, It's About Giving Back What's Been Pinching for Centuries
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
*Relooted* flips the heist genre on its head, tasking players with stealing back stolen cultural artefacts and using gameplay to spark conversations about colonialism and cultural repatriation. It’s a puzzle-platformer with a political conscience.
Right, so picture this: you're wandering around the British Museum, surrounded by treasures nicked from every corner of the globe. Bit dodgy, innit? Well, the folks at Nyamakop – a South African-based studio – clearly thought so too. That's why they're cooking up *Relooted*, a heist game with a twist. This isn't your average smash-and-grab; it's a playful, political statement on cultural repatriation.
According to *Rock Paper Shotgun*, the spark for *Relooted* came from a family visit to the British Museum where the audacity of seeing stolen artefacts on display sparked the idea in Ben Myres' mother's mind. Myres, creative director at Nyamakop, has created something pretty special. (You can find the original article from *Rock Paper Shotgun* here ).
Forget looting ancient tombs for XP and shiny gear. In *Relooted*, you're liberating recreations of stolen artefacts from museums and private collections, putting the heist genre to work as a story about righting historical wrongs. The setting's an Africanfuturist utopia dreamt up by Bongane Mahlangu, and it looks absolutely stunning.
The gameplay itself is a side-scrolling puzzle-platformer, where you plot your escape route before snatching the loot and triggering the alarms. Think *Teardown*, but with less voxel destruction and more meticulously planned getaways. You’ll be casing the joint beforehand, positioning your crew – who each have their own special abilities – to create the perfect escape route. Acrobat dangling from the ceiling, anyone?
But it's not just about the thrills; *Relooted* wants to educate. You'll be learning the stories behind the stolen objects, like the skull of Mangi Meli, an African leader decapitated by the Germans. Or the remains of Prince Alemayehu, an Ethiopian prince buried at Windsor Castle. Heavy stuff, yeah? Nyamakop narrative director Mohale Mashigo is not mucking around.
Myres notes that getting the team to the Summer Game Fest was a bloody nightmare thanks to restrictive US immigration laws, highlighting a painful irony considering the game's themes. Only he, a white man, could get a visa, which, when you think about it, is a powerful example of the exact kind of systemic problem *Relooted* is tackling. It is a game made by and for a diverse team of developers hailing from Lesotho, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Nigeria – all contributing their unique voice.
Now, you might be wondering why I'm not raving about blockchain integration or NFT artefacts here. Truth is, *Relooted* doesn't need that stuff. It's already doing something far more interesting: using the power of games to spark a conversation about history, colonialism, and cultural ownership. That's a treasure worth more than any digital trinket, wouldn’t you reckon?
So, if you're after a game that's both thought-provoking and thrilling, keep an eye on *Relooted*. It's shaping up to be a proper heist experience with a heart of gold... or maybe, a heart of repatriated artefacts. Either way, it will be worth a look-see.
Tags: indie games, heist, cultural repatriation, puzzle platformer, political gaming
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun