Imagine Yaa Asantewaa trading blows with Shaka Zulu, or Kwaku Ananse tangling an opponent in his web. That is the idea behind AKOFENA: Blades of the Ancestors, a Ghanaian-made fighting game that takes the heroes and folk figures many of us grew up hearing about and drops them into a proper one-on-one arena.
Legends with moves rooted in their stories
The game is currently in open beta with 19 playable legends from across Africa’s history and folklore, plus one hidden fighter waiting to be unlocked. It starts with Ghana and spreads out across the continent, so alongside Yaa Asantewaa, Okomfo Anokye, Togbe Tsali and Ananse you will find the likes of Shaka and Shango.
What makes AKOFENA stand out is that each fighter’s moveset is drawn from their own legend. Yaa Asantewaa leads the charge with her musket. Ananse uses his silk to trap you. Togbe Tsali drums his opponents to sleep and calls up crocodiles from the Volta, while Okomfo Anokye summons the Golden Stool. Even the stages are real places, from Kumasi in 1900 to the canopy of Kakum forest.
The name itself carries weight too. Akofena, the “sword of war”, is an Adinkra symbol that stands for courage and valour.
Free, in your browser, no download
AKOFENA runs straight in the browser on phones, tablets and PCs, and it costs nothing to play. You can:
- Fight the CPU across four difficulty levels, from Easy up to Legendary
- Play two-player on one screen with a split keyboard or controllers
- Challenge friends online with an invite link or a six-digit code
- Run local tournaments for anywhere from 3 to 32 players, or host online brackets with friends
- Learn the ropes in a step-by-step training mode, building up your Sunsum meter to unleash cinematic “Legend Art” super moves
Leaderboards, daily trials, weekend arcade challenges and a monthly Akofena Cup are listed as coming soon. Players have already logged more than 6,000 matches during the beta.
Catch the trailers, character spotlights and how-to-play videos below:
The studio behind it
AKOFENA is the work of Caleb Mantey, an Accra-based software engineer and one of Ghana’s early pioneers in virtual and augmented reality. Caleb trained as a geomatics engineer at the University of Mines and Technology in Tarkwa before turning to games, and he is the co-founder of Relu Interactives alongside Nicholas Abakah Eshun.
Relu Interactives made its name building immersive learning experiences, including a fully interactive VR petroleum drilling rig for training students, and a VR game featuring Ghanaian musicians for the Tidal Rave festival in Accra. The studio was recognised as Ghana’s leading animation and gaming startup at the NEIP Ghana Innovation and Startup Awards in 2023.
Perhaps the most impressive part: AKOFENA is not built on Unity or Unreal. It runs on ReluSpatial, the studio’s own in-house game engine, and Caleb developed the game single-handedly partly to put that engine through its paces.
Already a winner
The game has started picking up silverware. Team Akofena, led by Caleb, took first place at MTN Ghana’s maiden DigiFest 2026 game developer contest, held at KNUST in Kumasi. More than 50 entries came in from across the country, with 10 shortlisted for judging. African Household Drama finished second and Path Puzzle came third.
Caleb says his goal is to make a fighting game people genuinely enjoy, while sparking curiosity so that a young player who finishes a match walks away asking who that legend really was.
At a time when more of Africa’s own stories are finding their way into games, AKOFENA is one to watch. Grab a friend, pick your legend and jump in at akofena.reluspatial.com.
