ALBAWABA - Relooted, a new indie video game that recently hit Steam and Epic, is struggling to reach an audience. Before its release, the game was widely shared for its unique political premise, in which a group goes on a heist to return African artifacts from Western museums.
Set near the end of the 21st century in Johannesburg, South Africa, the 2.5D game follows the story of Prof Grace, who recruits her grandchildren, Nomali and Trevor, and former student Etienne, on a heist mission to retrieve African artifacts by breaking into museums and private collections.
According to its Steam Store page, Relooted will let players "Reclaim real African artifacts from Western museums in this Africanfuturist heist game. Recruit crew members, plan escape routes, acquire the precious cargo, and bounce out of the joint as fast as you can."
Relooted struggles to reach an audience: Reports 57 all-time peak on Steam
Relooted is currently sitting on a "Mostly Positive" rating on Steam, with many users praising its puzzles, visuals, parkour mechanics, and unique concept.
A Steam user wrote, "Really fun puzzle platformer with unique parkour mechanics. Love the concept too, stealing back artifacts that colonizers stole from Africa. And if you want you can get history lessons on the artifacts and history, but it's optional. I love it, but it being skippable is nice."
However, the game also received its fair share of negative reviews. A Steam user wrote, "This game sucks. I’m not saying that because it’s “woke”; the game is genuinely bad. The art style is ugly, the mechanics are terrible, and it has a multitude of other issues. Avoid this game."
Another reviewer wrote, "I love the world and premise of this game, and was really excited about it, but the gameplay feels a bit boring to me in the first few episodes. Going to see if upping the difficulty helps, but this might just be a game that isn't for me. Hopefully it inspires more people to tell similar stories though, because I'd love more like this!"
The game is also struggling to reach an audience. According to SteamDB, Relooted currently has 12 players playing the game, with an all-time peak of 57, at the time of reporting.
