Relooted reclaims African artifacts through heist gameplay

I did not expect playing Relooted would hurt. Developed by Nyamakop in Johannesburg, the game asks you to return African artifacts to their home countries by planning and executing heists as Nomali, a parkour enthusiast. You research where items are held, investigate security, choose entry points and assign teammates to carry out each mission.

The planning phase is the puzzle: buildings are filled with locked doors, reinforced glass, sensors and pressure plates, and a carefully plotted route can take 20–40 minutes to set up and only seconds to execute. Teammates bring distinct skills—Trevor unlocks doors, Cryptic hacks turrets, Ndedi reaches high windows with a zip-line—and alarms can shut doors and unleash robots.

Heists are scored on parkour, speed and recovered artifacts, and I encountered framerate problems and a graphical glitch on Steam Deck and PC that cost me time. What made the game emotionally sharp is that the artifacts you liberate are all real and, in the game’s framing, none of them are where they belong.

South Africa, Johannesburg

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