rebroadcast - Episode 122 - Ben Myres & Cukia ‘Sugar' Kimani

Checkpoints

My guests today are Ben Myres and Cukia ‘Sugar' Kimani, co-founders of South African based game studio Nyamakop, creators of the inventive 'Clay Doh' platformer Semblance. They are also excellent, inspiring company with an infectious passion for video games.

We talk about their diverse paths to game development, from childhood where Ben assumed videogames had been around forever and was taught gamemaker in primary school (!) and Sugar's knock off Dreamcast bought from a roadside stall in Nairobi, and playing co-op Doom in school (one person aiming, one person moving)

We hit on how Age of Empires and Prince of Persia Sands of Time blew their respective minds. Why Ben played the intro of Final Fantasy X over and over again, why GTA was the only game Sugar needed and ultimately to how they came to form Nyamakop in a rom-com worthy meet cute.

There is a clear pride they both take in the burgeoning African video game scene, and they talk about how that came to be, how one of the companies founding principles is YOLO, how they keep themselves inspired when the work becomes a struggle, and how they won’t stop until they get that gold hot tub. This episode is a good time

"Diplomatic immunity!"

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Theme song by Samuel Baker

Art work by Craig Stevenson