Umoja: A new game exploring resistance to slavery on the Swahili Coast
Launched in Kilifi, Kenya to coincide with the International Day for the Remembrance of Slave Trade and its Abolition, Umoja is a new video game bringing untold stories of resistance to slavery to life.
Umoja The Game was developed in collaboration between SOAS, Pwani University, the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa and Jiwe Studio. Meaning “unity” in Swahili, the game combines ethnographic research by SOAS’s Dr Marie Rodet and partners with striking game design, grounding historical legacies in the present with immersive gameplay.
The game is based on real-life narratives captured from four villages on the Swahili Coast, which players are invited to explore through interactive storytelling, mini-games, and historically grounded quests. It was launched at Pwani University with an official trailer reveal, public demo and hands-on showcase with students of the university.
By bridging rigorous scholarship with accessible gameplay, Umoja offers educators and students a powerful new way to engage with the Swahili Coast’s histories and legacies of slavery.
Speaking about the launch of the game, Dr Marie Rodet said: “By bridging rigorous scholarship with accessible gameplay, Umoja offers educators and students a powerful new way to engage with the Swahili Coast’s histories and legacies of slavery.”
Max Musau, Director of Jiwe Studio, added: “Umoja brings together community voices, academic research, and game design to make histories of resistance to slavery playable and present. We’re honored to launch the demo with our partners at Pwani, SOAS, and UNESCO.”
Umoja is the latest to be produced through Dr Rodet's collaborative work with regional partners on this subject, with Usawa, an afrofuturistic mobile game exploring descent-based slavery, launched last October.
