About Naija Roots

What is Naija Roots about?

ROOTS 3D: track down a mystery Nigerian tribe or African nation with your start.ng explorer.

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A 3D daily guessing game about where people come from: read the clues, then find the Nigerian tribe or African country.

A mystery storyteller stands on a pedestal and hides where they come from. Your job is to find their origin: a Nigerian tribe in Naija Heritage, or one of Africa's 54 countries in Africa 54.

Naija Roots at a glance

• Made by Collins

• On start.ng since October 2026

• Play it in your browser at naija-roots.start.ng, with nothing to download

• Categories: Brainy games, Nigerian themed, African themed, Educational and 3D games

• Leaderboard: yes, ranked by Best expedition, Daily streak and Origins found

• Controls: Naija Heritage: guess the Nigerian tribe

Features

• Two modes: 67 Nigerian tribes across all 36 states + FCT, and all 54 African countries.

• A 3D tabletop diorama: a sunlit wooden table, a water basin, a floating island and hex-tile maps of Nigeria and Africa.

• Your start.ng character: your explorer is built from your start.ng avatar style, and flies out to plant a flag on every guess.

• A progressive storyteller reveal: the storyteller starts as a silhouette and shows a little more of their attire with every clue.

• Distance and direction feedback: each miss draws a glowing arc with the distance in km and an arrow pointing toward the answer.

• Daily seed: one shared mystery per mode each day, the same for every player.

• Endless and the Heritage Plaza: keep playing, and watch a monument for each new origin you solve appear around the island.

• Leaderboard: Best expedition, Daily streak and Origins found, saved through start.ng.

• Mouse and touch: drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom, click or tap to pick. The layout adapts from desktop down to small phones.

What Naija Roots says

Some of what Naija Roots tells you as you play:

• “Democratic Republic of the Congo”

• “Africa’s largest country: a narrow Mediterranean coast and the Atlas ranges give way to vast Saharan dunes and rocky plateaus.”

• “Couscous with vegetables and lamb, chakhchoukha and spicy merguez sausages are national favourites.”

• “Raï music from Oran became world-famous, and Kabyle silver jewellery and woven rugs are prized crafts.”

• “Arabic and Tamazight are both official, and “Saha” is a warm wish of good health.”

• “Yennayer, the Amazigh New Year in January, is a national holiday celebrated with family meals.”

• “The Roman ruins of Timgad and Djémila, and the old Kasbah of the capital, are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.”

• “North Africa region, bordering Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Mali and Mauritania.”

How scoring works

Players are ranked by Best expedition (highest first). If two players tie, Daily streak (highest first) and Origins found (highest first) decides it. Only your best run counts. Sign in with start.ng to save yours.

Play Naija Roots

Naija Roots is free to play in your browser on start.ng, with nothing to download. It was made by Collins.

It is a game for people who like brainy games, nigerian themed, african themed and educational.