A few weeks ago I posted a little top-down driving game set in Harare and asked what you wanted. A lot of you replied, so I built most of it. Thank you to everyone who played and commented.

Play it here: https://mushikashika-life.vercel.app/

What’s new

It’s an actual mushikashika game now

People stand on the pavement and flag you down. Hoot to get their attention.

Stop next to them to let them in. Each car has a seat limit: the Fit takes 5, the kombi takes 15. No unlimited passengers.

Six kinds of passengers: office workers, students, gogos, vendors, big men and arguers. Each pays differently and has different patience. Gogos take their time getting in, the big man won’t wait, and the arguer complains the whole trip.

Drop them at named stops and ranks: Copa, Fourth Street, Mbare Musika, Eastgate and more. You earn the fare and pay for fuel as you drive.

With several passengers, the game works out the fastest order to drop them and draws the route on the road.

Cash starts at $0. Free roam is still there if you just want to drive.

ZRP is here (as requested)

Police roadblocks on the main roads into town, with cones and officers in uniform.

Stop and they check your licence, fire extinguisher and two triangles, and you might get a spot fine.

Drive through and they chase you: wanted stars, sirens and flashing lights. Get caught and you’re BUSTED, your passengers run off and you pay a fine. Get far enough away and you lose them.

Traffic cops at the robots watch for red-light runners and speeders.

Robots, zebra crossings and speed humps

Traffic lights at junctions in town and on the main roads. The other cars actually stop on red.

People cross at zebras, and humps in the suburbs will punish you if you hit them fast.

Real Zimbabwe weather and time

By default the game uses the actual weather and time in Harare right now. If it’s raining in Harare, it’s raining in the game.

You can also simulate the seasons (afternoon thunderstorms, winter morning fog, October heat) or pick the weather yourself.

Day and night, sunrise and sunset, headlights and streetlights at night.

Rain, thunder, wind, birds and crickets you can hear.

People talk

Passengers and passers-by speak Shona, Ndebele, English and a bit of slang, with translations.

Expect lines like “Famba zvishoma, ndine mazai!” from a gogo, or “Unopenga here?!” if you nearly run someone over.

Works on phones now

Touch controls in two styles, Modern or a console gamepad, in portrait or landscape.

Adjustable thumbstick sensitivity.

Other improvements

A proper pause menu: pausing really pauses, and the map lets you zoom, scroll and set a waypoint like GTA.

Graphics settings from Low to Ultra, with sharper HD visuals on High and Ultra.

Faster loading and a lot of performance fixes.

What I need from you

Bugs: anything broken, slow or weird, especially on your phone. Tell me your phone model and which graphics setting you used.

The money: do fares and fuel feel right, or is it too easy or too hard to make money?

The language: if any of the Shona or Ndebele is wrong or sounds off, please correct me.

What’s next: a few of you asked for multiplayer (drivers vs ZRP). It’s on my list, but it’s a big job. What would you want first?

Thanks again for the support. Keep the ideas coming.

Hey guys I'm a Zimbabwean Standup comedian, can you check out my video, hope you enjoy it.

It's from a show I did back in July and I have another one on the 23rd of October at HICC

I’m based in Zimbabwe, and I noticed that most small sellers (bakers, food sellers, salons, resellers) take orders in WhatsApp chats. It’s easy to lose track or retype everything.

So I built a simple order form. You make a shop, share the link, and customers pick items and tap one button. The full order opens in WhatsApp, already written out. It’s free to start, and I’m looking for a few sellers to try it and tell me what’s confusing or missing.

If you sell on WhatsApp and want to test it, comment or message me and I’ll help you set up your shop.

Link: whatsapp-order-form.pages.dev

I have seen so many times where people claim they want things to change in this nation and yet the very same people fight people who are advocating for change in this nation especially as it relates to respect of human rights. Some people aren’t really enraged with the ills that plague our society but rather they are enraged that they are not the ones in power or the ones vari kudya patafura paMambo. Selah

Ok I'm renting and paying 3 ma 100 dollar bills, this is suffocating me to the point of having less money mugaba rangu kana ndatendwa necompany. So was of the opinion ye temporary structure ktiza these bills, stuck between a 2 bedroom house of durawall panels or a 2 bedroom house of bricks. Ndiudzeiwo the costs with pro's and con's of each. Considering I might demolish once funds permit for a proper cottage or main house.

I really love the Mazda Axela but I’m only finding it in diesel engines. My mechanic and everyone is discouraging me from getting a diesel one, they want me to get a petrol one instead. Is the diesel version really that bad? What’s really bad about it?

Even though life is tough out here, I was struck by how many happy faces I saw. There were shacks everywhere, yet what I found particularly interesting was how each one had its own unique design, as if every little home had a character of its own

I got to thinking and after talking to some friends got me wondering how much zimbos are really earning on average per month reports are saying $150-$300 net which i think is crazy

so how much are you earning

Can we please move on from this endless talk about overthrowing the government? I’m tired of people on this sub calling ordinary people cowards, submissive, passive, or unmanly simply because they’re trying to navigate their daily struggles.

This “we have the numbers” argument needs to stop. Yes, we outnumber those in power, but who controls the guns, the police, the military, and the financial resources? Numbers alone don’t equal power. Read a damn history book. And while you preach revolution, spare a thought for those who actually stood up and paid the price. Some of you demand resistance but conveniently overlook those who suffered, lost their lives, or were imprisoned for doing exactly what you claim to admire. You don’t even know their names, yet you’re quick to question the courage of others.

When we ask for practical plans, we mean where is the organisation? The movement? The leadership and structures capable of turning anger into meaningful change? Or is this just talk to stroke your ego and make you feel brave behind a screen?

All we hear is “the government is bad,” “we have the numbers,” and “why don’t we die for kawntry?”

Meanwhile, look around this sub. People are reuniting with family, seeking better opportunities abroad, preserving their languages, and encouraging our women to aim higher. Others are breaking generational curses, unlearning prejudice, and challenging the mistreatment of our queer folk.

And you call all this defeat? What is defeat about educating our children, empowering women, treating our queer folk with dignity, and becoming a generation less burdened by the prejudices and harmful traditions of the last? If building a better future for ourselves and those who come after us is defeat, what exactly does victory look like?

I’m tired of people confusing loud rhetoric with courage and reckless sacrifice with patriotism. Ordinary people don’t owe you a performance of bravery.
If you’re going to demand that people risk everything, show us what they’re risking it for. Anyone can shout about revolution. Where is your plan, what are you building, and what happens after the government falls?
Perhaps people haven’t accepted defeat. Perhaps you’ve simply failed to recognise progress because it doesn’t look like the revolution you imagined.

Edit: I’m not against people voicing their frustrations; I’m all for it. It’s reassuring to know I’m not alone. Maybe people just want to vent, and I’m missing the point. But if that’s the case, why insult and condemn innocent people who have no power to change things?

Just wondering, in your eyes, what would it take to revive the urban grooves genre? That was a timeless period in the Zim music scene and some of the songs are still bangers to this day especially that time it was Chigutiro versus Chamhembe studios. As I get older, I’m increasingly starting to appreciate that music.

Today I was researching some of the people who sang on some big songs like “Phadhuze Newe” (I didn’t know it was Nox who sang the chorus) and then “Shevedze” by Leonard Mapfumo with a lady called Sharon Ndlovu who is still singing and lastly Kevie (now Vito) who absolutely killed it on “Maidei” chorus.

You know how the cars on ride-hailing apps like inDrive move around the map, and how they look like tiny glossy toys from above? I liked that more than I should have, so I asked myself why it couldn’t be a game. Now it is one.

Mushikashika Life is a top-down free-roam driving game set in a Harare-inspired city. It’s in your browser, so there’s nothing to install.

What’s in it right now:

• Zim street cars: Honda Fit, Toyota Aqua, Wish, Allion, Mazda Demio, Hilux, and a HiAce kombi with a roof rack and a China bag on top
• Samora Machel, Julius Nyerere, Copacabana and Fourth Street ranks, Africa Unity Square, the Kopje, Mbare Musika and more (not to scale)
• AI traffic that keeps left, and kombis that hoot at you if you block them
• Drift handbrake, a GTA-style radar and pause menu, and keyboard controls

Play it here: https://mushikashika-life.vercel.app/
Controls: WASD or the arrow keys to drive, Space for the handbrake, H to hoot, Esc for the menu.

It’s an early prototype. Right now you can only drive around, and I need help with two things:

1. Testing: tell me about bugs, slow loading, weird physics, or anywhere you got stuck.
2. Features: what would make you keep playing? My first ideas are picking up passengers and haggling over fares, kombi rank routes, police roadblocks, fuel, and car upgrades. What would you add?

I’m working on a small project and I’m looking for Code 4 rolled lead flashing.

Does anyone know where I can buy offcuts or rolls locally, or which scrap yards/metal dealers in Bulawayo or Harare usually keep clean sheet lead in stock? I need the minimum amount of which I don't know how much that will be.

Appreciate any tips or contacts!

Edit: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/obHhANmXJrg?feature=share <--- what the material looks like.

If we give our time, body and soul to chasing this bill, our entire existence for this bill will it be worth it some day?

Will I be able to enjoy it even after I've lost friends and family chasing it? Most of us work under the assumption that someday we'll have enough, someday the bill will take care of us? Is it easier to believe that than to live knowing that even if you give this bill everything you have it won't be enough. Can this bill really buy more than it takes to acquire it?

Are we really forced to spend the one life we have chasing this bill?

Parking and traffic : I had no issues comparing it to last year’s edition.
Ticketing at the gate : smooth was my queue for less than 10 minutes and tanga tatopinda. Last year takazombomira for some time😭😭
Lineup: there is room for improvement and I think organizers should consider the type of music one plays, Sam Deep is more of a chilled soulful piano artist and we can have him play that late maybe sunset. Wowrae too should have played earlier. And having Shimza play that late was off he ended up playing to an empty ground.

Performances : 🙌🏻🔥🔥
Shaku Chante: missed her set so yeah 😪
Courageous and Vele Vele combo: yasesss man 🙌🏻
Bhana: Pa all local Djs this was the set I enjoyed the most and my first time hearing him play will probably attend more shows where he is playing.
MHB: zvagara he doesn’t disappoint mixed set had everything in it and made us reminisce with those naija hits
Taku MadetheBeat: missed your set, I was there but was doing zvimwe zvinhu
Madedido: 🙌🏻🔥🔥proved ma haters wrong, though there was something wrong with the sound didn’t sound as clear.
The Boss Dj : those Afro house tunes and remakes 😮‍💨😮‍💨🙌🏻
Sam Deep: Hola Madeepana didn’t just go for popular songs and that was 👌🏽👌🏽
K.O - sang along the whole time even perfomed Mhlobo Wami timeless tune
Babalwa M - ndokwakaperera voice rangu uku 😭😭
Funky Qla : my act of the night a solid 10/10 performance. 🔥🔥🔥
Wowrae: event organisers vakakubhaizira but 🙌🏻
DaCapo: us house music lovers we enjoyed
Shimza: Inja yeGame the mixing was so crisp

Overall: 7/10 night

NOTE: I know this topic has been discussed at length multiple times, but I don't think people really understand the mental impact that has been suffered, so allow me to reiterate this HUGELY important topic to the 1 or 2 that have never come across this before.

I often hear people in Africa with black skin in general, talk down on themselves and always wonder why they're "cursed" the way they are and talk as if to say suffering is the natural state of the average African, and they think we're not good at anything except praying and self-destructive tendencies.

Saying that implies Africans don't have the mental capabilities of governing themselves into a well functioning prosperous population, that foreigners in first world countries have to come in and do the governing and building for us. That is a big insult to Africans, as if we're not smart enough to achieve what they did, even though they had to do it through killing, stealing, looting and propaganda.

Its not recent memory, but Africa used to be the hub of all civilization, even went through a golden age around the 11th and 17th century (according to historians), that was when Africa was very rich and powerful, at that time

Things like the slave trade and falling behind in industrialization, and among other factors, is what made Africa very unstable and easy to colonize. This is the period where Africans started to be given a different image, thinking, belief system etc that wasn't theirs. That is when African economies destabilized, their religions got demonized, their education changed from their own to the oppressors, native languages were shown as being uneducated or unintelligent so we should speak theirs, propaganda about being the inferior race began to spread (eugenics), being told we can't govern ourselves, being convinced we can't survive and do well without the white person and need to identify closer to them etc

Unfortunately, these ideas and lies are still running strong within Africans today, it is a strong part of the average African identity now. These lies have been subconsciously or covertly preached in church, put in textbooks, taught in schools, government structures etc for years upon years that the psyche of the average African thinks this is just who they are now.

It has gotten so bad that a lot of us want close proximity to white people, and our idea of success is outside of your own racial/national group. People cry about the Chinese now on how ruthless they can be, but Europeans were way worse and even used laws and religion as a vehicle to push oppression and the self-deprecating propaganda we're still struggling with today.

Meanwhile, first world nations deliberately need Africa in a perpetual state of poverty, miseducation, dysfunctional governance, have an inferiority complex etc that they orchestrated so that they milk Africa as much as they can with little to no repercussions

So what's the solution?

As far as I can tell, the solution is around education and teaching African pride in self. The education has to be extremely afrocentric, so that it helps in unlearning how the propaganda that was fed for centuries. Yes, right now we may not have the infrastructure to change things overnight, but a solid, intentional reprogramming of the African mind is a good place to start. We may not reprogram grown adults who actually believed in African inferiority all their lives, but teaching the real African and even national history that includes our ingenuity, wealth, struggle with foreigners etc to the younger generation would help in establishing a strong and vital sense of pride in self in the foreseeable future.

Right now, the issue is totally mental, it's in the psyche and I can say that when certainty. So undoing the mental handicap should be the first port of call

A partnership between web hosting provider Tremhost and Cloudflare will provide local businesses in Zimbabwe with access to Cloudflare Pro features at a reduced rate of $9 per month.

The deal comes after regional hosting providers noted an increase in cyber attacks over the past two years, particularly targeting WordPress websites. While Cloudflare offers a free tier, its functionality is limited for businesses needing advanced protection, while standard Pro plans have traditionally been cost-prohibitive for smaller local enterprises.

According to the company, the agreement aims to lower the cost barrier for local site owners seeking better website security and performance tools amidst growing regional cybersecurity risks.

Excited to announce my recent promotion at work , with a more convincing salary now l have decided it’s time to invest. I have $3600 saved and am looking for a viable side hustle or investment to grow it .If you have experience in a profitable venture in Zimbabwe please inbox me.