On social media, discussions have surfaced surrounding the recent launch of Relooted, an Africanfuturist heist game that sees players assume control of characters stealing African artifacts from Western museums. Those discussions aren’t entirely positive, as Relooted has managed to secure a peak player count of just 57 users on Steam on launch day.
While the bulk of users will be playing Relooted via Xbox Game Pass, on which the game dropped on day one, it’s not a strong look for just the second game from Nyamakop. It is worth stressing that the game has a review rating of ‘Mostly Positive’ on Steam, so perhaps it’s much better than the player count suggests and is just struggling with adoption.
Relooted Regarded as ‘Genuinely Bad’ by Some
If you hold any stock in user reviews on Steam, you might baulk at the most recent recollections. One gamer 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.
Of course, the almost immediate mention of ‘woke’ does something to invalidate their opinion a little, as it’s a phrase too easily lobbied around these days by those not happy with their evaluation of a game.
By comparison, another user explained:
It’s a fun and vibrant little platformer with a lot of interesting history driving it. Sadly, Americans struggle to think anything can be made without centering around their politics.
It’s extremely tough not to take a political approach to judging Relooted, and that might be what’s slowing adoption. It’s not possible to see how many people are playing the game on PC or Xbox via the Game Pass subscription service, but at the time of writing, just 15 people were playing it on Steam.
In June 2025, our Tom Henderson sat down with Ben Myres, CEO at Nyamakop, who said:
We struggled with the design for quite a while – how to make an interesting mechanical adaption of heist movies was tricky (most heist games are shooters, and don’t always feel accurate to the vibe and sensibilities of say an Ocean’s 11). It was only when Teardown came out that something clicked.
The team also stressed that the Metroidvania-style game wasn’t influenced by games like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown or Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, despite bearing similarities to both.
Time will tell how Relooted pans out, but the critics’ impressions are mostly positive. One outlet described the game as ‘unique and rewarding’, while another dubbed it ‘a fantastic premise’.
Have you given Relooted a try? Let us know what you’re thinking about the game on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
More from Grant Taylor-Hill
Come on, when the player numbers are low its easier to have positive reviews. Most players aren’t buying it because its on game pass.
Besides the fact that its just not that fun.
The premise of this game is too steep in some weird ideologies for me.