Rabiu Asante

The ability of gamers to acquire specific skills from playing one digital game or another is not in doubt, particularly when one considers the literature on youth violence and the exposure to violent video games in the West. Because these games are often designed based on the values of the global north, while targeting the youth in developed nations, little is known about the online-skills African gamers appropriate for social engagement offline. Using in-depth interviews of 30 Ghanaian youth digital gamers as well as a thematic analysis of the description pages of the downloaded games, this study seeks to explore the digital gaming practices of Ghanaian youths to understand the kinds of offline skills they end-up appropriating while playing these games.