Afro Samurai, Namco Bandai Games. 2009.

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Developed by Namco Bandai Games, Afro Samurai is an action video game that reimagines the manga and anime series of the same name. The game focuses on a Black Samurai named Afro. As a child, Afro witnesses his father’s murder during a duel to become the world’s greatest fighter and to win the No. 1 headband. The game focuses on Afro’s revenge as he battles to become Number 2 so that he can challenge his father’s killer. In 2015 a sequel called Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma was released.

Black Inventors Match Game, Leshell Hatley. 2010.

Platform: Google Play and the Apple Store

Black Inventors Match Game is an app based game created by Dr. Leshell Hatley. It aims to celebrate Black inventors and problem-solvers over the past two hundred years while also being a fun memory puzzle. The game features Myles and Ayesha– two characters created by Hatler to help children learn and who were designed to provide children, and especially African American children, reflections of themselves.

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, Ubisoft Sofia. 2012

Platforms: Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch

Part of the Assassin's Creed video game series, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is set within the same fictional history of real-world events as the larger series and continues to follow the millennia-old struggle between the Assassins, who believe peace can only be achieved through free will, and the Templars, who want to attain peace through societal control. This game takes place in the French colony of Louisiana from 1765 to 1777 and follows Afro-French Assassin Aveline de Grandpré, who is the first female protagonist of the series. Aveline is the daughter of an African enslaved woman and a wealthy French nobleman, and the narrative explores elements of American history including the period of chattel slavery, colonial rule and anti-miscegenation laws as Aveline battles the Templars and attempts to free enslaved people.

Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry, Ubisoft Quebec. 2013.

Platforms: Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch

Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry is part of the larger Assassin's Creed video game series and is set within the same fictional history of real-world events as the larger series and continues to follow the millennia-old struggle between the Assassins, who believe peace can only be achieved through free will, and the Templars, who want to attain peace through societal control. This game takes place from 1735 and 1737 and is set in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). It follows Adéwalé, an African slave-turned-pirate who also appears as a supporting character in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Here, Adéwalé, who is formerly from Trinidad, is confronted with the brutal realities of slavery Saint-Domingue, and temporarily pauses his duties as an Assassin to aid the Maroon movement in freeing enslaved people and fighting for freedom.

Harlem Unbound, Chris Spivey, Darker Hue Studios, Chaosium. 2017.

Role-playing game

Set during the Harlem Renaissance, Harlem Unbound is a horror role-playing game where players are African American investigators fighting against Lovecraftian cosmic horrors and real-life social injustices. The game includes four adventures including “Harlem Hellfighters Never Die”, which centres on a raid by the KKK. Harlem Unbound was designed by Chris Spivey and published by his company, Darker Hue Studios, a games company that aims to increase diverse representation in gaming, to provide more accurate representation of history, and to promote inclusion with the game industry. It was published in 2017 as part of Chaosium’s horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu, which was first released in 1981. In 2018, the cover art for the game won an ENNIE Award for Best Cover Art, and in 2020 Spivey won a Diana Jones Award for Black Excellence in Gaming.

Hair Nah, Momo Pixel (Developer). 2017.

Platform: Web

Hair Nah is a travel game created by Portland-based visual artist Momo Pixel to address Black people’s experience with people touching her hair, particularly without permission. The game is both a protest and entertainment. It uses 80’s pixelated style, and the player’s objective is to get to their chosen destination without anyone touching their hair. If you arrive at your destination safely, a message appears: “Way to go, girl! You made it. The game may be over, but this experience isn’t. It’s an issue that black women face daily. And to those who do it: STOP THAT SHIT.”

SweetXHeart, Catt Small. 2019

Platform: Itch.io.

Created in 2019, Catt Small’s SweetXHeart (pronounced “sweetheart”) is a game that centres on the life of a modern Black woman and explores race, gender and the microaggressions experienced by Black women everyday. The protagonist of the game is Kara, a 19-year-old girl from the Bronx, and players act as Kara over five days as she attends art college and interns at a tech company while making small decisions about her outfits and interactions. In 2020, SweetXHeart was nominated for the Games For Change Award for Most Significant Impact.

Treachery in Beatdown City, Nuchallenger (Developer) and HurakanWorks. 2020.

Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch and Windows.

Released in 2020 and set in the fictional American city of Beatdown, Treachery in Beatdown City is a beat 'em up video game created by NuChallenger and HurakanWorks. The narrative centres around the kidnapping of President Blake Orama by ninja terrorists, and players battle to take back the streets and discover the truth behind the kidnapping, all the while fighting fascist cops, racists and terrorists as well as entitled joggers and cyclists.

Rap Godz, Omari Akil and Board Game Brothas. 2020.

Board game.

Rap Godz is a board game that combines traditional board game mechanics with American rap culture. The players’ objective is to become the ultimate rap god by earning money, building street cred and earning the most record sales plaques. The game was designed by Omari Akil, cofounder of Board Game Brothas which was created by Akil and his brother to address the lack of diversity and “blackness void” in the gaming industry.

Read Omari Akil’s article about his desire for more Black board game designers here.

Dot's Home, Rise-Home Stories project. 2021.

Platforms: Steam, Itch.io., Google Play and Apple Store.

Dot’s Home was created as part of the Rise-Home Stories project which aims to reimagine the past, present and future of BIPOC communities and to convey the richness and beauty of communities of colour. The game is a single-player, 2D, narrative-driven video game that follows a young Black woman, Dorothea (Dot) Hawkins, in Detroit. Dot is staying with her grandmother, and after receiving a mysterious key she is able to open a door within the house and travel across time to different periods in her family’s history.