1851 Agidingbi Game, Nigeria’s first indigenous variant of the chess game based on historical events in Lagos, has been launched.
The app, named after 1851, the year the HMS Bloodhound from England invaded Lagos, was unveiled yesterday, Saturday, October 16, at Red Door Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The app comes in a single and multi-player mode and is also available as a board game. This chess-style game is a fully immersive experience that helps in exporting Lagos to the rest of the world via the digital landscape. It teaches aspects of Lagos history while improving IQ, mental awareness, risk analysis, leadership skills and more.
Just as the standard features of the chessboard, the game has the checkered board design with the six pieces such as Erelu- Kuti of Lagos as the Queen Mother, Oba of Lagos as The King, Adamu Eyo as The Rook, Omo Ogun Eko as The Pawn, Eletu- Odibo as The Bishop and Abagbon as The Knight.
While using the 1851 Agidingbi game, users can play on either side. That is as the Eko Defenders or the British Invaders. Before venturing into playing the game, the gamers need to understand the simple story of the Lagos invasion segmented as the feud, the envy, the greed and the invasion. The feud started as a battle between Oba Kosoko and his uncle, Oba Akitoye.
Speaking about the game and app, its creator, Oludamola Adebowale, said: “The 1851 Agidingbi game is a very personal project. It is not just with the game but with the narrative around it. The British invasion of Lagos has never been explored before.
Agidingbi started as an experiment from an exhibition in 2017 at the Lagos Book and Art Festival. I did something around Lagos history and we had over 20 art illustrations that were displayed. The game board that gave birth to this app was actually on display. I saw the way people interacted with it and it was beautiful. At that moment, I saw an opportunity and I saw a product. I have worked towards it. People won’t invest in an idea unless if it is a product,” he revealed.
The lockdown at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic created some free time for Adebowale to work on the app, which he described as his “pandemic experiment.”
“I worked on the design as well as the legal component of the project. In years to come, I will be doing quite several projects where I will be infusing history, culture and technology to form an educational or innovative tool to boost the economy, socio-cultural part of our lives, and promote and preserve history,” he said.
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