Do you love video games? Well, you’re gonna love this! Two Jamaican brothers, Akeem and Tyreik Pennicooke have created a video game called Street boy. The brothers, who share a passion for video games, wanted to create something that would empower youth through creativity, technology, and entrepreneurship.

The game is based in the Long Bay community in eastern Portland, Jamaica. It follows the story of Arlington, an orphaned boy living with his grandma. He is unable to afford school, so he must do odd Jobs with his hand cart around his community to support them while trying to avoid the clutches of the local gang leader.

According to Akeem, this is Jamaica’s first cultural game, and he foresees it being very impactful.

“This game was created to represent Jamaica in another creative medium and also to create a small piece of history for Jamaica”. This, in our opinion, will not be just a small piece of history but instead something that will have a great impact on Jamaica and future generations to come,” he said.

He added; “We hope to open the door to countless creative minds and opportunities in the Caribbean.”

A wide range of 3D and 2D software was used to develop the game as well as the concept. The brothers, who work in advertising have been developing the game since 2017.

“We only work on it when we’re not busy with other projects that pay our bills!” Akeem said. “Since it’s just me and my brother working on this game it will take time and money. With just us two working in our free time, it may take another 2-3 years.”

Investors

However, Akeem pointed out that if investors come on board, the game may be released sooner. “We’re currently working on a game demo to garner financial funding from potential investors/sponsors who are interested in funding this project. With financial backing, the game will be completed in one year. We are open to offer equity to large investors and we are looking to feature Jamaican brands in the video game to make it as authentic as possible,” he said.

Adding that ‘Street boy’ will be available on PC & Mac and depending on how well it does they will port it to mobile and other consoles.

Akeem implores individuals to play this game once it becomes available not only because it’s the first game representing Jamaica’s culture but also because it’s “funny, fun, positive, non-violent, well designed and is 100% authentic and relatable to many Jamaicans.”