{"id":177,"date":"2026-10-13T13:59:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T13:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/?p=177"},"modified":"2026-10-13T13:59:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T13:59:38","slug":"south-african-teen-17-develops-free-offline-multiplayer-game-to-bring-friends-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/?p=177","title":{"rendered":"South African Teen, 17, Develops Free Offline Multiplayer Game to Bring Friends Together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lerato Arigato has developed Rogun Army, a free Android shooter that allows more than 16 players to compete on the same Wi-Fi network or mobile hotspot without an internet connection.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 17-year-old South African game developer is looking to revive the excitement of offline multiplayer gaming with the launch of Rogun Army<\/em>, a free action shooter designed to bring friends and families together without requiring an internet connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lerato Arigato, who has been developing games for approximately nine years, created the game to recreate the local multiplayer experience that made older mobile games popular among young players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Available on the Google Play Store, Rogun Army supports more than 16 players on the same Wi-Fi network or mobile hotspot, allowing users to play together without using mobile data or connecting to the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by Mini Militia<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Arigato says the idea behind Rogun Army came from his childhood experiences playing Mini Militia \u2013 Doodle Army<\/em>, a game remembered by many players for its local multiplayer functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that the game\u2019s original appeal was its ability to let friends host matches and compete against one another without needing an active internet connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he believes subsequent updates changed aspects of the experience that originally made the game special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was a kid there was a game called Mini Militia \u2013 Doodle Army,\u201d Arigato said. \u201cIt let you host a game and play with your friends without an active internet connection. As time went on this game received a lot of updates that changed its core DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After realising that other players shared his frustrations, he decided to develop an alternative that would bring back the simplicity and social experience he remembered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The development and testing process took approximately a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes Rogun Army different?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Built using the Unity game engine and C# programming language, Rogun Army is a top-down shooter featuring multiple maps, character skins and a variety of weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Players can choose from weapons including submachine guns, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles and revolvers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game\u2019s defining feature is its local multiplayer capability. Players can host a session using a mobile hotspot or shared router, allowing others on the same network to join.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game does not require players to create accounts or connect to the internet to enjoy its local multiplayer experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rogun Army is rated Everyone 10+ and is available as a free download for Android users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arigato has also been releasing regular content updates, reporting an average of several updates per month as he continues to improve the game and expand its features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A young developer with years of experience<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although he is only 17, Arigato has spent a significant portion of his life learning how to develop games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He began experimenting with Scratch as a young child before moving to Unity around the age of eight in 2016. Since then, he says he has created hundreds of projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His work has attracted attention from several South African media and gaming platforms, including Stellenbosch University\u2019s MFM 92.6 radio station, G-Cover Magazine and X Factored Youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has also shared his work with the Make Games South Africa community, connecting with others interested in developing games locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arigato describes himself as \u201coverly ambitious and passionate\u201d, qualities that have helped him pursue his projects from an early age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His long-term ambition is to work at an established game development studio to gain industry experience before eventually becoming a full-time independent developer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, his focus is on getting more players to discover and experience Rogun Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encouraging people to connect offline<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rogun Army offers a different approach in a gaming environment increasingly dominated by online multiplayer experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than requiring players to connect to distant servers, the game encourages them to gather in the same physical space and compete using devices connected to a shared local network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its offline functionality may also appeal to players who have limited access to affordable internet services but still want to enjoy multiplayer gaming with friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the game\u2019s long-term success remains to be seen, its development demonstrates how young South Africans are using their technical skills and personal experiences to create products for a wider audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 17, Arigato is already building a portfolio of projects and working towards a career in the gaming industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His latest release reflects a straightforward idea: gaming can be more than an individual experience on a screen. It can also be a reason for people to put their phones together, spend time with one another and enjoy some friendly competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where to get Rogun Army<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rogun Army is available for free on the Google Play Store. Android users can search for the game by name or use its package identifier, com.forbiddenbox.rogunarmy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To play with friends, users can connect their devices to the same Wi-Fi network or mobile hotspot and join a local multiplayer session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Arigato continues developing the game, he hopes to reach more players and establish himself as one of South Africa\u2019s emerging young game developers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

InsideOutNews | South African News and Current Affairs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lerato Arigato has developed Rogun Army, a free Android shooter that allows more than 16 players to compete on the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[113,93,110,111,112,92],"class_list":["post-177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech","tag-developer","tag-gaming","tag-lerato-arigato","tag-mini-milita","tag-programming","tag-south-african-gaming-creator"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions\/179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideoutnews.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}