Salvador, Brazil — February 25, 2025
EMBARGOED UNTIL: March 11, 2026 – 13:00 UTC
Mandinga Games has announced that the official Steam page for its upcoming title Black Sailors: A Santos Bay Tale will go live on March 11, marking the beginning of the game's public campaign on the platform.
Set in 17th-century colonial Brazil, in the region of Todos os Santos Bay, the game tells the story of enslaved Africans who lead a revolt, seize control of a slave ship, and become pirates in the fight for freedom. Their mission expands as they rescue enslaved people, raid Portuguese forces, and support resistance communities.
Black Sailors: A Santos Bay Tale is a naval tactical strategy game that places Black protagonists at the center of an epic story of resistance, offering a perspective rarely explored in historical games.
The project embraces an Afro-Brazilian narrative lens, highlighting the diversity of the African diaspora through different cultures, traditions, and cosmologies. Cultural and spiritual elements are integrated directly into the game’s progression systems and worldbuilding, reinforcing the thematic identity of the experience.
Among the game’s core features are:
- Turn-based naval movement driven by inertia, encouraging tactical battlefield reading
- Strategic crew management, where character placement directly affects the ship’s attack, defense, and maneuverability
- A historical narrative centered on Black protagonists, with strong Afro-Brazilian cultural influences
Spirituality also plays a key narrative role. The presence of Exu, a spiritual entity from Afro-Brazilian cosmology, introduces the concept of spiral time, which ties directly into the game's roguelite structure and allows players to unlock new strategies after each defeat.
“Launching our Steam page is an important milestone for us. We want players around the world to discover not only the tactical gameplay, but also the cultural and historical strength behind this story,” said Tiago Prudente, Creative Director at Mandinga Games.
The project has already received recognition in the Brazilian game development scene, earning awards and festival nominations. It is also supported by ID@Xbox, Microsoft’s independent developer program.
A free demo is currently available on itch.io, allowing players to experience the core gameplay loop while the studio continues development toward the full release.
The complete version is currently planned for late 2026, with release targets for PC (Steam), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation.
Media & Materials
Steam Page
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4230650/Black_Sailors/
Demo (itch.io)
https://mandinga.itch.io/black-sailors
About Mandinga Games
Mandinga Games is an independent game studio based in Salvador, Brazil, founded by brothers Tiago and Daniel Prudente. The studio focuses on creating games inspired by Afro-Brazilian culture, history, and storytelling.
Social Media
X (Twitter)
https://x.com/mandingagames
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/mandinga.games/
TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@mandingagames
Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/mandingagames.bsky.social
Website
https://www.mandinga.games/