The gaming industry has always been poorly represented when it comes to its African sector. Too few games come out of the continent, and the ones that do don’t make it very far. This issue runs even further because there is no shortage of skills needed to code, create music, develop animations and create a compelling story for these games. The truth of the matter is that African game developers simply don’t have the support to put these skills into action.

This is the problem that fuels the fire behind Tade Ajiboye’s most recent work, “Go North.” He’s been making games all the way back to his childhood, from games for his secondary school friend to building a career out of it, going as far as being featured on the American media giant, IGN. In conversation with NATIVE Mag, Tade reflects on how he got into game development, some key insights into the world of Go North, and his hope of writing a new chapter for the gaming industry in Nigeria.

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.

How did you get into game development and what has your journey as a game developer been like so far?

I’ve been building games since I was a kid. My parents sent my siblings and I to a tech boot camp where I learnt the fundamentals of game making and collage making. Following this, I continued making games for me and my friends in secondary school like RPGs and shooters, going on to continue making them in university. I made a game called “Water Bubble” in my university that sort of blew up, which brought requests to make games on a freelance basis.

Would you say that making games started off as more of a hobby before it developed into something more?

Yes, it did start off as a hobby and personal interest. I’d say that it still is. Before I started making “Go North,” I was a freelancer making games for clients. From there, I started making it a career then I decided to focus more on building my own games and “Go North” is a result of that. 

What type of game is “Go North” and what can players expect when they step into it?

It’s a cozy exploration game. Players would explore different mazes with a story unravelling in the process. Players will also get to solve puzzles and interact with different characters. When they first play, I expect them to have a sense of calm, relaxation and wonder because of the beautiful fantasy world they’ll be in. I also want to pique a sense of curiosity through discovery.

What are some inspirations that influenced the world building of “Go North”?

“Legend of Zelda” and “Animal Crossing” do have some influence in terms of places to explore and similar art styles. I’d also say some games like “Blue Prince” influenced how I think around puzzles and “Journey,” which would be the most prominent inspiration out of all of them, has similar elements of exploration, beauty and landscape. 

There aren’t many games that come out of Nigeria or Africa as a whole. What would you say are some structural issues we have within the gaming industry that prevent this?

One of the problems, that isn’t particular to Nigeria, is the difficulty that comes with making games. It’s a tough endeavour and those are harder to do in places like Nigeria because there’s no support and a lack of resources that would make game development easier. There aren’t a lot of success stories and big enterprises that some nations have around gaming. Nigerians can’t publish on platforms like Steam, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch so we have to go through different channels that manually put a game there but that involves having connections.

Would you say that there are any elements of “Go North” that tie back to your Nigerian or African identity?

I wasn’t intentionally trying to make a Nigerian game. When I thought of the main character, I chose to name her Dara, after my friend. Even though I wasn’t trying to tell a Nigerian story, it sort of feeds into the game in some of the dialogue and characters because that’s what comes to my head.

What was your process for coming up with the “Go North” soundtrack?

The soundtrack was mainly contracted out because we have scattered talent all around. I gave a music producer, that I’d worked with prior to “Go North”, enough information and visuals to tell what exactly I was trying to achieve and the emotions I wanted to evoke*

“Go North” has won awards and even been covered by major gaming networks like IGN and The Game Awards. How much does this mean to you as a solo indie developer?

Although I’m not one to get super excited, it’s definitely a good feeling and exciting thing. A lot of these showcases are highly competitive, so you could have thousands of applications for a showcase that has around 80 or 100 games. Knowing that people who run these showcases have been doing so for many years and have so many games to choose from believe that my game is of quality is externally validating. It also helps put the game* into an audience that’d actually play it so that helps with pre launch attention.

Would it be possible to get a sneak peek in the story of “Go North”?

You play as a young girl, Dara, who wants to have her wish granted by finding the Maze God. In order to meet them, you need to complete all the different mazes from the beginning to where the Maze God’s castle is located. Dara is resourceful and laser-focused, but also socially awkward so she doesn’t try to talk much with others unless she’s trying to help them. As she makes her journey through the maze, she meets interesting characters that she forms bonds with. She also faces obstacles and betrayal but grows as a person. There’s also a sinister force corrupting the mazes from within that makes it difficult to explore. So she has to figure out why this is happening.

What vision do you hope to fulfil with “Go North”?

The game industry in Nigeria is not where I want it to be. I’m not the sort of person that likes to say “This isn’t good.” when I’m a part of it and can make it better. I’d like to build a premium story game through locally sourced talent. Even though I built the game myself, I still got the craft of other Nigerians for elements like the music and art. I want to let people know that we have the key ingredients to build a globally competitive game and if I do succeed, I can show that more people can achieve this with what we have. 

Do you have any plans for game development in the future?

There are a bunch of ideas that I want to pick from and make into a game but I can’t share that right now. There’re definitely games that I’m excited to build.

Support “Go North” here.