The Roles of Riddles, Puzzles, and Narratives as Pedagogy in Video Games: A Case of African-Themed Video Games.

Critical thinking can be promoted through narratives, puzzles, and riddles. Literature has indicated a need to reactivate African narratives to preserve African legacies for future generations. This study argues that African riddles, puzzles, and narratives should be used in African-themed video games to promote critical thinking and awareness of African culture. It emphasizes the importance of African-centered puzzles as a culturally relevant pedagogy that fosters students' understanding of African cultural values. The study used a participatory culture framework to bring students together to develop an African-themed video game. The game, called Nolwazi, was investigated ethnographically to highlight critical aspects. The study presents the findings of the investigation and analysis. It concludes with a discussion of the importance of using African riddles, puzzles, and narratives in video games. Plain language summary: Critical thinking promoted through African Themed Video Games The study explores the utilization of the rich African narratives, puzzles and riddles as tools in teaching students through video games. This study focuses on video games developed by South African students and how the video games have helped to create cultural awareness and foster critical thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]