Coded Black

Coded Black is shown in the DocLab Exhibition, with a one-time special live presentation during DocLab Playroom: Connected Offline.

One morning a young girl wakes up on the plantation where she's being kept as a slave and sees that her sister has disappeared. This marks the terrifying starting point of a dark, atmospheric desktop game about the history of anti-Black racism in the US and the UK.

The girl takes you into her life on the plantation. Her story—based on historical facts and events, and on real lives—is enriched by fascinating archival materials and gripping eyewitness accounts. In the second part of the game, you explore a British city, sometime in the 20th century. Here, too, there are stories of injustice to be found on every street corner.

Alongside its educational aspect, this intentionally uncomfortable game provides space for personal reflection. But there are triumphs, too, along with the horrors, and heroes and successes in both worlds. There’s the story of Nanny Griggs, for instance, who led a rebellion in Jamaica, and of Oscar Micheaux, the first major African-American filmmaker.