category · entertainment & lifestyle
PrototypingEntertainment and lifestyle
Three industries in one category, because the same constraint shapes all of them: the audience here is on a phone, on a thin connection, and short of anywhere local to find good work. Gaming goes first because it is the one we could put in front of a real player this week.
Photo: Dappasolomon001 on Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Projects & opportunities
19 projects across 3 subcategories. The rest are on our roadmap, with what we plan to explore.
Film
Tools for getting a film made on a real budget.
African film is booming on streaming platforms, yet most crews still plan, budget and distribute with paper and phone calls.
- Production planning
- Local distribution
- Talent directories
Music
Learning and practice for musicians.
Games
Small browser games, each testing one idea.
CharadesWizAct out ZambiaLearn more →
CapiWizWorld capitals quizLearn more →
ChessWizChess openings trainerLearn more →
PianoWizLearn piano, key by keyLearn more →
HanoiWizTower of Hanoi puzzleLearn more →
PhobiaWizName the phobia, name the fearLearn more →
MorrisWizNine, twelve & more men's morrisLearn more →
NextWizRemember the number orderLearn more →
ChronWizColour-sequence memoryLearn more →
NumeroWizNumber recallLearn more →
PiWizRecite the digits of πLearn more →
ScrabWiz2 & 3 letter Scrabble wordsLearn more →
ConundrumWizWord unscrambleLearn more →
ElementWizPeriodic table trainerLearn more →
BibleWizBooks of the Bible, in orderLearn more →
ExamWizImaginary exam trainerLearn more →
JigWizJigsaw puzzlesLearn more →
BankRiverWizBank or river reflex gameLearn more →
RubixWizCamera Rubik’s cube solverLearn more →
The three industries
Each one is a separate board with its own stage. Open a category for what we would build inside it.
Film Industry
ExploringTools for the people who actually make films here — production paperwork, budgets and a route to an audience that is not a platform's algorithm.
Open Film Industry →
Music Industry
ExploringRelease, rights and studio tools for Zambian artists — the unglamorous bookkeeping that decides whether a song earns anything outside the country.
Open Music Industry →
Gaming Industry
HotA gaming landscape for Zambia — small games made here, for the phones people already carry. Sixteen games are live and playable right now.
Browse the games →Why this category comes first
Four reasons we stopped deferring it. None of them are that entertainment feels more important than farming.
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01
The audience is already here
The device is in the pocket and the connection is not. Anything worth shipping has to survive a small screen and a data plan, which rules out most of what the industry assumes.
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02
Software is the part we can build
A film set, a recording studio and a server all need different things. The tooling underneath them is the same problem three times over, and tooling is what this lab does.
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03
It tests the other categories for free
The prototype games are drilling exercises for Education. Building the game is how we find out whether repetition actually teaches anything — one build answering two questions.
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04
It fails cheaply and in public
A browser game nobody plays costs us a weekend and teaches us something. The same mistake inside agriculture or mining costs a season, so it is the right place to be wrong first.
Where it stands
One industry shipping, two on the board
Gaming is the only part with something public: ten browser prototypes, no accounts, no installs. Film and music are at the stage where the useful next step is conversations rather than code — with people currently doing the work, not about them.
We will not pretend the three are equally advanced. They are on the same board, not the same clock.