South African studio Nyamakop released Relooted on February 10, 2026, turning the return of African cultural objects into a puzzle-heist game. You play Nomali, a parkour expert who recruits specialists, studies each museum, clears a route, then grabs an artefact and races a countdown. The 70 targets are based on real objects held outside Africa, including Kenya’s Ngadji drum at the British Museum. The game imagines a treaty that covers only objects on public display, so museums hide them instead of returning them. Nyamakop built the game with contributors from more than 10 African countries, hired voice actors from its characters’ home countries, and researched names and pronunciation rather than treating the objects as generic treasure.
Players who enjoy Hitman’s route planning or Monaco’s crew heists get a familiar loop with a different purpose: each escape explains what was taken and why it matters. A 2018 restitution report estimated that more than 90% of Africa’s material cultural heritage is held outside the continent. A game cannot settle disputed ownership or replace consultation with source communities. Relooted uses fictional Western museums instead of reconstructing real ones. But it puts this history in front of players who might never read a provenance catalogue. The game is available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and cloud, including Game Pass.
Sources:
- Relooted official page (Nyamakop)
- Relooted on Steam
- Relooted release and developer interviews (RFI)
- Relooted and its artefact research (The Guardian)
- February 2026 Game Pass release list (Xbox Wire)
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Citation
@misc{kabui2026,
author = {{Kabui, Charles}},
title = {Relooted: 70 {African} {Artefacts} {Become} a {Heist} {Game}},
date = {2026-07-23},
url = {https://toknow.ai/posts/relooted-70-african-artefacts-heist-game/},
langid = {en-GB}
}