Winners of Echoes Jam to debut at Lagos Games Week

The Goethe-Institut Nigeria is set to debut the three winning projects from its inaugural Echoes Game Jam.

The Echoes Game Jam is a transformative platform designed to nurture African talent in the video game, immersive, and interactive media industries.

It encourages participants to explore their histories and develop scalable, engaging solutions for cultural preservation.

The initiative brought together creatives from seven African countries — Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, and Cameroon — to reimagine history through the lens of digital entertainment.

Drawing inspiration from artifacts at the National Museum in Lagos, developers created augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), WebXR, and mobile game projects to enhance access to cultural heritage in the modern, tech-driven world.

With technical support from Africacomicade, over 100 participants underwent an intensive two-week mentorship, equipping them with resources through masterclasses and workshops.

The Echoes Game Jam was held in Lagos from March 10 to March 23, 2025, culminating in a judging process by a panel of experts.

Wubit Studio’s ‘Building Obu,’ Dream Team’s ‘Cradle,’ and Digi-Negus’ ‘Queen Idia’ stood out among eight competing teams.

The winning projects will debut in July at Lagos Games Week.

‘Building Obu’ uses AR to highlight the cultural significance of the Obu House Monument, a central symbol of Igbo communal values.

‘Cradle’ transports players into a VR puzzle adventure, challenging them to locate the Oba.

‘Queen Idia’ celebrates the legendary Benin queen who played a pivotal role in her son’s reign, reinforcing the power of historical narratives through interactive media.

The projects also serve as digital storytelling mediums, offering immersive experiences that bring Nigeria’s rich history to life.

Nadine Siegert, director of Goethe-Institut Nigeria, highlighted the importance of local storytelling in shaping global narratives.

“We saw films in the last few years, like everybody knows about ‘Black Panther,’ Wakanda and others. But I feel like these are stories that are still kind of conceptualized in the North,” she said.

“And now I think it’s for African creatives to really say, ‘what do we really have and how can we tell these stories? Because there would be a lot of other topics. Lagos is full of themes that they could have worked on, like traffic, pollution.

“There’s much that could have been the source for these stories or the resources. But going to the museum and working with that, I think that is just wonderful. And it will probably hopefully also connect to the interest that we see globally now for African stories.”

The winning projects will undergo further refinement before being installed at the National Museum, Lagos, with backing from the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Games Connect Africa, and the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC).