Pixels to People

This paper investigates how thematic Game Jams can act as a bridge between European university students and Indigenous communities, using cultural games as a medium for both education and the preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Through collaboration with a rural Indigenous community in Namibia, the paper details the pedagogical rationales, design, and implementation of the Game Jam, illustrating how Indigenous stories can be transformed into playable 8-bit experiences for European students to gain hands-on experience in programming and game design while deepening their cultural understanding. Finally, the paper documents the reception of these digital expressions as they were brought back to the Indigenous community and discuss their potential to empower local storytellers, thereby contributing to understanding how community-directed cultural representation as interactive media can unfold.