Finally, a video game hero for Africa

Updated 1026 GMT (1826 HKT) January 20, 2016

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Cameroon's first ever video game, Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan, features an African hero, and is part of a growing video games industry across Africa.

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The stories heroes are Enzo and his wife Erine, who battle to regain their thrown in the fantasy kingdom of Zama.

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"I owe a lot to manga and comics," says Madiba Olivier, the game's creator.

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Though Aurion's characters represent more diversity in the video game universe, Olivier says that was not the point for him when making the game. <br />"We are making a game for gamers. Our idea is that we get inspiration from comics and mix it with our own style," he says.

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Though Aurion's characters represent more diversity in the video game universe, Olivier says that was not the point for him when making the game.
"We are making a game for gamers. Our idea is that we get inspiration from comics and mix it with our own style," he says.

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"At first, the idea was to make games about ninjas," notes Olivier. "But then I realized many gamers were bored of the same story and the same heroes. That's how the idea to create an African fantasy came out."

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Olivier says he wants to "break what I call 'the exotic world' image of Africa."

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When Olivier first started creating Aurion and the fantasy world it contained, he had to contend with constant power outages, and a meager $100 of start-up capital.

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The world created in Aurion is inspired by African folklore and mythology

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"I think people with good eyes will see a lot of symbols about the African challenge," says Olivier. "Geopolitics is not about who will rule the world, but about deciding what the goal of the human race will be."

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(CNN)When Madiba Olivier set out to make Cameroon's first video game with his newly opened studio Kiro'o Games, he had to do it with just $100 and daily power outages. And those weren't even the most difficult challenges for the Yaounde-based developer.

An early design for Enzo, the hero of Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan

"We had difficulty finding funds and showing investors that we are not a scam," recalls Olivier. "We had people telling us, you are just another African scam on the internet. That was very humiliating for me."

Recently, he has proven the doubters that he means business. With the help of a Kickstarter campaign, Kiro'o Games has raised over $50,000 to create the country's first African role-play game: Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan.