Cozy game, cozy gaming, pixel artist, commission art, Bozar Museum, Art Director Momo Pixel. Black women gaming, black woman art. Jerry Lawson, Jerry Lawson Google Doodle, Game designer, Black girl gamer,
The Ask:
Create a video game art piece for the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts for their 2026 exhibition exploring how artists depict and challenge established norms of who is considered beautiful.
PARTICIPATING ROLES
Momoland Studios:
Art Director, Game Designer, Writer, Animator, Producer:
Momo Pixel
Music
Lyrics, Melody, Vocals: Momo Pixel
Producer: Aubrey Adams
Sockstudios:
Development - Jhay Pace
The Story:
After years of being bullied for her skin tone and features, Neketa goes mute. Never speaking, interacting with others with her only solace being her grandmother’s house until Yaya passes away.
With a broken heart Neketa goes on a journey of self-love and discovery to find Yaya’s gift.
The Intention:
I wanted to make a game that pulled at the parallels of what I see with who I am.
When the Bozar Centre of Fine Arts approached me with this opportunity to create a video game as an art piece for their 2026 exhibition Picture Perfect, I became excited at the thought with their theme exploring how artists depict and challenge established norms of who is considered beautiful. It felt like a fluid thread to be able to discuss how Black women are often considered othered beauty while being nature's natural beauty. I wanted to speak life and encouragement to Black women.
March 7th - August 16th
Bozar - Brussels, Belgium
The Process:
With only 3 and a half months to create the game, I quickly honed in working on the story.
Yaya came as inspiration from my community and personal life experiences. Having been in the presence of people like Phylicia Rashad, who speaks as if butter was bread and listening to esteemed humans such
as Maya Angelou. I wanted to create a figure that could slightly embody them.
Growing up my godfather's house was a safe haven for me. His backyard was like a forest often filled with various animals like cardinals and chipmunks. I'd crack walnuts in the living room while he read the newspaper. I aimed to invoke that feeling I had as a youth with the backgrounds and tones of this game.
Once the story was complete my feet hit the ground running with designing. I used visual inspirations such as Frieren: Beyond Journey's End and Howl's Moving Castle as my north stars for this cozy runner game. Short timelines require delegating tasks to the team as I go, so I'm thankful to the dev, Jhay for being able to do this in 50 days and to my wonderful composer Aubrey for always making the process so simple.
The Music:
I wrote Yaya's Gift as a rally cry for those moments in life when you're a bit lost and alone. When all you have is the strength of yourself and you're looking for a glimmer of hope, an outstretched hand to help. Sometimes all you can do is cry out, thus "Hey Yaya".
The Showcase:
Yaya's Gift was shown in Brussels, Belgium at the Bozar Centre of Fine Arts from March 7th - August 16th 2026 as part of the Picture Perfect exhibition.
After Show
Following the close of "Picture Perfect" Yaya's Gift will be continued and reimagined as a fuller game.