THE GAME

Coded Black is a bold, narrative-driven experience that immerses players in the hidden and haunting histories of anti-Blackness in the US and UK.

This is not a traditional game. It's an experience designed to be difficult—mentally and emotionally. Drawing from primary sources, historical records, and scholarly analysis, Coded Black offers a journey through past atrocities and moments of triumph.

Explore two distinct, atmospheric scenes – a plantation and a modern 20th-century city – each filled with real historical documents and audio-visual storytelling. With a replayable structure that surfaces different historical content in each run, Coded Black is a narrative crafted for both personal reflection and educational engagement.

Amidst the darkness, Coded Black also shines. Players can find glowing “balls of light” that reveal stories of Black achievement, resilience, and humanity – offering powerful moments of reflection and hope.

This is not a game about winning. It’s about witnessing, understanding and feeling the weight of history through an interactive lens.

This project was funded by the British Academy.

THE TEAM

Désirée is an author whose fiction is concerned with working class Black women, internal landscapes and a continuous struggle against the white, male gaze, notions of beauty, race and being. She is the author of Seduce, and the creator, curator and lead artist of Dig Where You Stand.

For more information, see desireereynolds.co.uk

The creative team of Human Studio has global credentials in design, animation and immersive experiences. The team is driven by the discovery of knowledge, technology and culture, and collaborate with individuals, groups and organisations that make a difference.

For more, see humanstudio.com

MAISHA WESTER

Creator, designer, co-writer, lead researcher

Maisha is a professor in American Cultural Studies, Black Diaspora Studies, Film Studies and Gothic literature. Coded Black is an extension of her research as a British Academy Global Professor.

For more information, see maishawester.info

MARY GOING

Researcher and content editor

DESIREE REYNOLDS

Co-writer

Mary is a researcher interested in racial and religious representation, whose work has particularly focused on Jewishness and antisemitism in Gothic and horror narratives. She is the author of The Eternal Wanderer: Christian Negotiations in the Gothic Mode (2025).

For more information, see marygoing.co.uk

HUMAN STUDIOS:

ABBY HAMBLETON

Lead developer

NICK BAX

Creative Director

LUCAS BAX

Asset Modelling