Echoes Game Jam Award Ceremony Rewards African Innovation in Digital Creativity

The Goethe-Institut Nigeria, in collaboration with Africacomicade, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Games Connect Africa, and the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), announced the winners of the inaugural Echoes Game Jam award ceremony at the National Museum, Lagos, on March 28, 2025.

Launched as part of the Goethe-Institut’s Dreaming New Worlds project, the Echoes Game Jam was designed to empower African digital creatives to preserve and promote the continent’s rich cultural heritage through interactive media. Over the course of two dynamic weeks—from March 10 to March 23, 2025—more than 100 creative talents from Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, and Cameroon converged to reimagine storytelling through cutting-edge technology.

Award Winners and Recognitions:

• Augmented Reality Category:
  
  • Winner: Wubit Studio for their innovative project “Building Obu”
    
• Virtual Reality Category:
  
  • Winner: Dream Team with the immersive project “Cradle”
    
• Games Category:
  
  • Winner: Digi-negus with their captivating project “Queen Idia”
    
    

In addition to the winners, the ceremony featured other outstanding projects, including:

• Echoes by Team Retrospect
  
• Nsibidi Codex by Team Gadus
  
• Memory Vault by Past and Pixel
  
• Heritage by Heritage Heroes
  
• Ebemsi by Egwuregwu
  

The event, held at the National Museum, Lagos, provided a fitting celebration of the creative ingenuity and cultural dedication demonstrated by the participants. The museum’s environment served as the perfect backdrop for the award ceremony, reinforcing the project’s mission to preserve and elevate African cultural heritage through interactive media.

Project Journey and Future Endeavors:
The Echoes Game Jam by Goethe Institut Nigeria commenced on March 4, 2025, with an onboarding session at the Africacomicade office in Yaba, Lagos, and included an inspiring guided tour of the National Museum for selected Lagos-based creatives on March 7, 2025. These initial engagements set the stage for the participants to draw from historical and cultural sources, fueling their creative process during the intense two-week competition. Through initiatives like the Dreaming New Worlds project, the Goethe Institut Nigeria a pivotal role in empowering local creatives to explore and reimagine their cultural narratives

Following the award ceremony, selected winners were set to receive further support to refine their projects. Final versions were scheduled for exhibition during the Lagos Games Week in June 2025, and all winning projects were slated for permanent installation at the National Museum, Lagos, ensuring that these digital narratives continued to inspire and educate.

About the Echoes Game Jam:
The Echoes Game Jam by Goethe Institut Nigeria is a transformative platform that nurtured African talent in the video games, immersive, and interactive media industries. By fostering cross-sector collaboration and pan-African co-creation, the initiative encouraged creators to delve into their histories and develop innovative, scalable solutions for cultural preservation. The project epitomized the integration of technology and storytelling, amplifying African voices on a global stage.

For further details about the Echoes Game Jam, please visit Goethe-Institut Nigeria or contact:
Email: [email protected]