This one runs a little differently. Here, I take some of my favourite parts of the original format and get straight to, what I consider the soul of the thing: 5 questions, roughly 10 minutes or less.

Think of it as bite-sized nuggets of hustle and heart from people I've come to know and admire.

You’ll hear a little about what they do, but for the full bio, check out the show notes. For the person behind it, listen to the mini-pod.

In this episode, Olivier Madiba. Come join us.

About Olivier:

Madiba Olivier is the "Father of African Fantasy in Gaming" and the founder of Kiro’o Games, the first gaming studio in Cameroon. For the last 23 years, he and his team have transformed an "impossible, irrational dream" into a globally respected studio.

They made history with Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan, the first African Fantasy title released by a 100% African studio on Xbox and PC.

Starting as a team of rookies, they didn’t just make a game; they coded their own engine from scratch while surviving over 1,000 hours of electricity and internet outages.

As a true "Wallbreaker," Madiba and his team refuse to wait for Africa to be "market ready." They are building the missing pieces themselves: they architected the continent’s first seamless Mobile Money in-app payment for mobile games and spent two years analyzing the deep sociology of local gamers.

Their latest mobile title, Elites of Mboa, reached 60,000 organic downloads, uncovering a love for social simulation that traditional data analysis could never detect proving why global giants need a "build while breaking walls" mindset to win in emerging markets. Kiro’o’s unique culture of harmony, ambition, and discipline unlocks, one pixel at a time, the massive potential of the African gaming frontier.

Olivier’s LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/madibaolivier/

Press Kit (Assets for Aurion & Elites of Mboa): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1K0zDUen_58RpfAGgB8qDX9jvpMgh4qJE?usp=sharing

Aurionverse Website (Explore our universe):

https://aurionverse.com/

PocketGamer.biz Article (Showing our five years test on monetization): https://www.pocketgamer.biz/after-our-five-years-of-tests-we-think-only-hybrid-monetisation-will-work-in-africa/

About Deborah:

Deborah leads social impact and sustainability at Supercell, working across the company’s games, players and wider industry to explore how games can create meaningful impact beyond play.

Before joining Supercell, Deborah founded Games for Good, a consultancy focused on mobilizing the games industry for social impact. She has worked with leading companies across games and entertainment, alongside global organizations including the United Nations.

Deborah is a SpecialEffect Ambassador and TEDx speaker, with a particular interest in how the games industry can open up opportunity and strengthen creative ecosystems. She loves her hairless cats, book club, painting, and the occasional trash romcom.

Deborah’s LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-mensah-bonsu/

Find more stories:

games-for-good.com/podcast

Host: Deborah Mensah-Bonsu

Producer: Panji Kaonga

Illustration: Jordan Stephensen

This one runs a little differently. Here, I take some of my favourite parts of the original format and get straight to what I consider the soul of the thing: 5 questions, roughly 10 minutes or less.
Think of it as bite-sized nuggets of hustle and heart from people I've come to know and admire.
You’ll hear a little about what they do, but for the full bio, check out the show notes. For the person behind it, listen to the mini-pod.
In this episode, Jennifer Lufau. Come join us.

About Jennifer:
Jennifer Lufau is a people and games lover, cultural consultant and writer.

Jennifer’s LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-lufau/

Jennifer’s Website:
jenniferlufau.com

Jennifer’s Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/invinciblejane/

About Deborah:
Deborah leads social impact and sustainability at Supercell, working across the company’s games, players and wider industry to explore how games can create meaningful impact beyond play.
Before joining Supercell, Deborah founded Games for Good, a consultancy focused on mobilizing the games industry for social impact. She has worked with leading companies across games and entertainment, alongside global organizations including the United Nations.
Deborah is a SpecialEffect Ambassador and TEDx speaker, with a particular interest in how the games industry can open up opportunity and strengthen creative ecosystems. She loves her hairless cats, book club, painting, and the occasional trash romcom.

Deborah’s LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-mensah-bonsu/

Find more stories:
games-for-good.com/podcast

Host: Deborah Mensah-Bonsu
Producer: Panji Kaonga
Illustration: Jordan Stephensen

SHOWNOTES

In this episode, I’m joined by Special Effect Founder and BAFTA winner Dr. Mick Donegan. Mick shares the highs and lows of his transformational work, the walls he and his team have broken through and stories of some of the lives they’ve changed. Mick’s unflinching commitment to helping people bridge the gap between their potential and their physical ability through gaming has changed the way many people think about disability and the games industry too. Come join us.

About Dr. Mick:
Dr Mick Donegan is the Founder and CEO of UK-based gaming charity Special Effect. He has been at the forefront of new technology for people living with disabilities for more than 20 years and has a background in practice-based work as a teacher and an Assistive Technology Specialist. He founded Special Effect in 2007, which uses specialised technology to enhance access to video games and creative self-expression for people with a wide range of disabilities. Special Effect’s One Special Day brings together the games industry every year and has raised more than XX dollars to support gamers with disabilities.

Dr. Mick’s LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mick-donegan-specialeffect-9709734/

Special Effect
https://www.specialeffect.org.uk/

About Deborah:
Deborah Mensah-Bonsu is the founder of Games for Good, which focuses on harnessing the power of video games and the video game industry for social impact and climate action. She consults for console and mobile studios, NGOs and the United Nations Environment Programme. She thrives on collaborating to create healthier cultures, products and communities and has worked with some of the most influential names in games and entertainment.

Deborah’s LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-mensah-bonsu/

Find more stories and get in touch:
games-for-good.com/podcast

Host: Deborah Mensah-Bonsu
Producer: Panji Kaonga
Illustration: Jordan Stephensen