(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.
Finally, a video game hero for Africa
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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.
"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.
"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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