The Making of Hama Hama! Shona Card Game for Family & Friends

We are excited to share our experience creating Hama Hama! Shona Card Game for Family & Friends. 

The Hama Hama! Game brings Shona family relationships to life through engaging play: players test their knowledge of Shona family relationships by building valid sets of relatives from different perspectives using cards representing various family titles. Building on our Hukama PaChiShona Chart and Flashcards, Hama Hama! offers a unique, interactive way to explore and understand the complexities of Shona family dynamics. 

We created Hama Hama! to provide individuals, families, and communities with a way to engage together in exploring and appreciating Shona family relationships from different perspectives. Our goal was to create an experience that expands understanding while fostering connection and enjoyment. Translating the intricacies of Shona family relationships into a playable format was challenging, but we embraced it. 

We created this original Shona card game through an iterative development process. Admittedly, early versions of the game were rote, but through extensive playtesting and continuous incorporation of player feedback, we transformed Hama Hama! into a game that challenges and delights players at all levels of cultural knowledge. Drawing on our combined experience playing various card games, we built a mathematical understanding of Shona relationships that enabled us to create a versatile game that can be played fast or slow, individually or in teams, competitively or collaboratively. A key feature of Hama Hama is an emphasis on perspective-shifting: players must consider family relationships from various viewpoints, mimicking and expanding on multi-faceted roles within Shona families. This makes the game engaging while deepening and demonstrating players' understanding of Shona family dynamics.

We had fun creating Hama Hama! and we think you will too! It is a new way to engage with Shona culture that provides common ground for family members of all ages to connect, learn, and share their knowledge of Shona family relationships. Beyond all the fun we had creating Hama Hama!, we are very proud to contribute to preserving and promoting Shona culture through play and digital technology.

We invite you to experience Hama Hama! for yourself by ordering the card game or downloading the Hama Hama! game on the App Store. And, if you are looking for new ways to share your Shona culture with the community, we recommend the Hukama paChiShona Family Pack to visualize and expand on the relationships and family titles at the core of the Hama Hama Game. Whether you are looking to connect with your Shona heritage or interested in exploring a fascinating cultural perspective, Hama Hama! is enjoyable and enriching.

Visit www.nhakabox.com/hama-hama to learn more about Hama Hama! Or download the Hama Hama game on the App Store.

Have you ever played an original card game in an indigenous African language? Share your thoughts in the comments!