Bio

Cukia "Sugar" Kimani is a creative engineer with computer science and digital art degrees. He works primarily in games but also other creative digital projects. He is the co-founder and former technical director of award winning African studio, Nyamakop. Cukia currently works as a freelance engineer and producer but is always noodling around with a variety of prototypes. That he often shares on Twitter and Github.

During his tenure at Nyamakop, Cukia alongside fellow co-founder Ben Myres built the studio into "one of the most promising studios in African game development" as described by Polygon. Cukia was named as one of Forbes Africa's 30 under 30 of 2018 for his work building Nyamakop.

Nyamakop released their debut title, Semblance in 2018. Semblance, was the first African IP on Nintendo ever. Semblance has been nominated and won several awards as well as exhibited all around the world.

Before Nyamakop, Cukia created Boxer. Boxer won the inaugural A MAZE./ Johannesburg Award in 2015. He is also a public speaker having spoken at various events around the world including GDC, A MAZE./ Berlin and Respawn.

Awards

  • Excellence in Game Design (Semblance)

    BitSummit | Kyoto, Japan (2018)

  • Festival Award (Boxer)

    A MAZE./ Johannesburg | South Africa (2015)

Public Speaking