stemtoto is an independent studio founded by Neema Iyer, creating cosy, narrative-led puzzle games rooted in Swahili coast culture and material heritage. Their debut title, Good Hands, follows a young girl and her neighbour as they explore family and migration in the fictional village of Zimzemba. Stemtoto is dedicated to crafting handmade, culturally grounded games that celebrate intergenerational storytelling from an African perspective.

Neema Iyer is an artist, technologist and the founder of Pollicy, a feminist civic technology collective based in Kampala, Uganda. Alongside her policy and research work, she is developing Good Hands under her studio stemtoto, a cosy narrative puzzle game set on the Swahili coast, exploring family and intergenerational connection. She holds a Masters in Public Health from Emory University and is currently pursuing doctoral studies. Her doctoral research examines digital games, gender and learning in East Africa through Kamata, a narrative adventure game she designed and developed, set on the fictional island of Zimzemba. Her work draws on African feminist thought, procedural feminism and design-based research. She writes and designs from an intra-African, designer-researcher position. Her practice spans data, design and storytelling, weaving together research, illustration and interactive play to explore how technology shapes lives, particularly across Africa.