Our Story — Dash Studios

Dash Studios: How a Classroom Game Sparked the Birth of a Gaming Studio.

Dash Studios didn’t start with a grand vision or a carefully mapped-out business plan. There were no investors knocking at our doors, no fancy offices, and no expert developers with years of experience in game design. Instead, Dash Studios began in the most unlikely place — a university hall, during one of those long, boring afternoons when the minutes seemed to stretch into hours.

It was 2018, and I, John Ikpeme, was sitting at the back of the lecture hall with my colleague, Dalu Stanley Ogue. We weren’t paying much attention to the lecture — if we’re being honest. Like many students trying to make it through a dull class, we needed a distraction. That’s when Dalu and some of our friends, pulled out a piece of paper, and we began playing a simple game we’d played a hundred times before: “Name, Animal, Place, Thing.”

For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s a game where each player picks a letter, and you have to come up with a name, an animal, a place, and a thing that start with that letter. It became our go-to game whenever lectures dragged on too long. What started as a way to pass the time quickly became a tradition. It became a staple in our student life — something to break the monotony of the day.

But this particular afternoon felt different. I was losing badly, and if you know me, you know I’m not a fan of losing. Frustrated, I tore the paper in half, threw it aside, and declared I was done. But as I sat there, looking around the room, something strange happened. A thought popped into my head: “This would make a great mobile game!” I couldn’t believe that in all the endless supply of mobile games out there, no one had thought to turn this into an app. It was simple, fun, and competitive. Right there in the middle of that boring lecture, I leaned over to Stanley and said, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we turned this into a mobile game?” We laughed, of course, because we weren’t developers, and we had no idea how to code, let alone build a game. We didn’t have the faintest clue where to begin.

Still, the idea stuck with me. It gnawed at me over the next few days, and I couldn’t let it go. The next day, I woke up with a new revelation. As I thought more about the game, I realized the core of it was all about nouns — a name, an animal, a place, and a thing. That’s when the name hit me: Nouns. I bolted downstairs to tell Stanley about my “lightbulb moment.” I must have looked like a madman because he had no idea what I was going on about. I reminded him of our conversation in the lecture hall, and we both laughed it off again. The idea was exciting, but we didn’t take it seriously. At least, not yet.

I graduated that year, and even though I had moved on to other things, I still couldn’t shake the idea. It stayed in the back of my mind, popping up in moments of idle thought. Why hadn’t anyone made a game like this yet? What was stopping us? I started looking deeper into the African gaming industry and quickly realized why we weren’t seeing games like this. The African gaming scene, while growing, was still considered the underdog of the global gaming industry. African gamers were playing games, but they were mostly playing games developed outside the continent. African stories, African creativity — none of that was being showcased on the global stage. The market was there. The gamers were there. What was missing was the infrastructure and the opportunity.

That’s when I made a decision. If no one else was going to fill that gap, then why couldn’t we? I reached out to Stanley again, and in September 2018, we decided to take the plunge. We officially founded Dash Studios with the goal of building a mobile game that would bring our simple paper game to life. We called it Nouns Hunt, and it was the only thing we wanted to focus on at the time.

But as anyone in game development will tell you, creating a game from scratch is no easy feat. We were a small, inexperienced team, and the learning curve was steep. By January 2019, we had built a prototype for Nouns Hunt, but it wasn’t nearly as polished as we wanted it to be. We realized just how far we had to go. The prototype was rough, and we lacked the resources to take it to the next level. That’s when it hit us: we weren’t just trying to build a game. We were trying to build a platform — something much bigger than just Nouns Hunt. We wanted to create a space where African developers could shine, where African stories could be told, and where African gamers could see themselves represented.

The next three years were nothing short of a test of resilience. As a debut studio, we faced challenge after challenge. We had database issues, struggled to create a stable user experience, ran into funding roadblocks, and even lost some important team members along the way. There were moments where it felt like the odds were stacked against us. We launched a few fundraisers that didn’t pan out, and it seemed like every time we took one step forward, we were knocked two steps back. But we didn’t give up. We kept pushing forward, refining the game, and learning from our mistakes.

In March 2022, after years of hard work and persistence, we finally caught a break. We received a $10,000 angel investment from friends and family. It wasn’t a huge sum, but it was exactly what we needed to keep going. That funding allowed us to finalize the open beta version of Nouns Hunt, and by March 2023, we launched the beta to the public.

The response was nothing short of amazing. Nouns Hunt quickly climbed the charts and became one of the top word games in our region. We gained global recognition, and by the end of our beta phase, we had over 7,000 active users playing the game. It was a surreal moment, but we knew this was just the beginning. Our mission wasn’t just about one game — it was about creating a platform for African developers and amplifying African stories to the world.

Today, Dash Studios is more than just a game development company. We’re building a gaming powerhouse that focuses on three key areas:

1. In-House Game Development — We’re working on creating games that resonate with African audiences, while also appealing to gamers worldwide. We want our games to reflect African culture, creativity, and innovation.
2. Games Publishing (Marketing, Distribution, and Localization) — We aim to help other African developers get their games into the hands of millions of gamers, both across Africa and globally. We assist with marketing, localization, and distribution, ensuring that African games reach their full potential.
3. Growth Partnerships — We’re forging partnerships with other companies, developers, and investors who share our vision of elevating African gaming. Together, we’re working to build an ecosystem where African talent can thrive.

The demand for culturally relevant, high-quality games in Africa is growing, and we believe that the talent is already here. All that’s needed is the support and infrastructure to help that talent flourish. At Dash Studios, we’re committed to being that support. We’re building games that not only entertain but also tell African stories — stories that deserve to be told and experienced by gamers everywhere.

So, what started as a bored student’s distraction in a lecture hall has grown into something much bigger than we ever imagined. We’re proud of how far we’ve come, but we’re even more excited about where we’re headed. With the full launch of Nouns Hunt and other exciting projects in the pipeline, Dash Studios is just getting started.

The future of African gaming is bright, and we’re thrilled to be part of it.