The gaming world often overlooks players of color. This new studio is changing that At age nine, Nicodemus Madehdou moved from Monrovia, Liberia to Philadelphia and discovered how video games could connect him to a new culture. Always a puzzle aficionado, Madehdou liked the ways that visual exercises could be translated into the virtual world through gaming. “I wasn’t immediately into gaming because at first, I was trying to just understand my environment. But when I started, it connected me to things I’d never known about.” First, Madehdou played individual games, but as he grew more comfortable, he competed with other people. In this way, video games became an immersive way to navigate a new culture and make friends.