From Ma3 Racer to Mashujaa: The Vision of Kenyan Creative and Game Designer Mwaura Kirore

For over two decades, Mwaura Kirore has stood at the intersection of creativity, technology, and storytelling. A father, Creative Director, Production Designer, Concept Artist, and award-winning illustrator, his work has defined the look and feel of some of East Africa’s most iconic brands and entertainment experiences. Known for his striking black-and-white illustrations and imaginative worlds, Kirore continues to push the boundaries of African digital expression.

Currently the Executive Creative Director and partner at Zilojo, one of Kenya’s leading digital creative agencies, Kirore is passionate about shaping authentic African narratives. Zilojo’s mission is to tell African stories through both traditional and emerging media, grounding its campaigns in cultural insights and consumer data. Under his leadership, Zilojo has partnered with global and regional giants including Pernod Ricard (Jameson, Absolut Vodka), Diageo (Guinness, Guinness Smooth, Hop House 13), Kenya Airways, Co-operative Bank, Stanbic Bank, Safaricom, Airtel Africa, Tigo Mobile, Toyota Kenya, and Suntory.

The Birth of Planet Rackus

In 2010, Kirore and Joe Murithi Njeru founded Planet Rackus after hitting it off at their day jobs in digital advertising. With little formal training in game design, they taught themselves through trial and error, gradually piecing together a team from their professional networks.

Their first mobile game, Ma3 Racer (with “tatu” meaning three in Kiswahili), was inspired by Nairobi’s famously chaotic matatu culture. “Matatus here in Nairobi drive like maniacs anyway,” Kirore recalled of the game’s concept. The first version, built with low-resolution graphics for basic mobile phones, was released on Nokia’s Ovi Store. The team’s expectations were modest: “If the game had been downloaded 10,000 times in the first year, we would have thought that great,” Kirore explained.

But the game hit that milestone in just three days. By the end of its first year, Ma3 Racer had amassed over 1 million downloads globally. What began as a small, experimental release quickly became one of Kenya’s first gaming apps to reach international recognition. Ma3 Racer struck a nerve with African audiences, recreating the reckless thrill of matatu rides in the style of early ’90s arcade racers. Within a year of launch, it had notched nearly 900,000 downloads, surprising even its own creators.

The runaway success pushed Planet Rackus to think bigger. A remade Ma3 Racer for Android soon followed, and the team even considered merchandising opportunities to bring their quirky concept of wild matatu drivers to international audiences. Yet the founders remained grounded. “We’re on a three-year plan,” said Njeru at the time. “Even if it doesn’t succeed commercially, we do have other story lines and ideas. We’re in this for the long haul.”

By 2012, Ma3 Racer had gone on to win Application of the Year at Pivot East, East Africa’s premier mobile app competition, and earned a place among the Top 5 Global Mobile Games at the MEFFYs Awards. Its sequel, Ma3 Racer 2, launched in 2014 on Google Play, surpassed 500,000 downloads within its first year—cementing Planet Rackus’s legacy in African gaming history.

A New Chapter: Dung Beetle Studios

After several years away from the gaming scene, Kirore co-founded Dung Beetle Studios in 2020, a digital entertainment company focused on producing games rooted in African mythology and folklore. Their upcoming title, Mashujaa: Return of the Legends, is set to reimagine African heroes for a new generation of players, blending cutting-edge gameplay with the continent’s reservoir of stories.

A Return to Black-and-White Worlds

Alongside gaming, Kirore has recently been experimenting again with his signature grunge black-and-white character art—a style that has long been central to his creative identity. These raw, textured illustrations breathe life into characters that feel both timeless and contemporary, capturing the grit, humor, and resilience of African urban culture. His latest explorations push this aesthetic further, blending hand-drawn grit with digital polish, creating visuals that are haunting, bold, and unmistakably his own.

Building an African Digital Future

What sets Kirore apart is not only his ability to design and direct but also his enduring belief in the power of African creativity to shape the future of entertainment and design. His career weaves together branding, illustration, and game development into a singular vision: that African digital art has the power to be both globally recognized and deeply local.

As African gaming and digital storytelling continue to gain momentum, **Mwaura Kirore’s journey—spanning illustration, advertising, mobile entertainment, and now immersive gaming worlds—**offers a powerful reminder of how far the creative industry has come, and where it is heading.

With Mashujaa on the horizon and his renewed exploration of black-and-white illustration, his legacy is still unfolding. One thing is certain: his work will continue to inspire generations of African creatives to tell their stories boldly, authentically, and digitally.