Quick test: picture the flag of Kenya. Easy. Now Chad. Now Malawi. Now the one with the AK-47 on it. If you got two out of four, you are already ahead of most people — and you're exactly who this game is for.
The African Countries Flag Game is a card game built around one idea: you should be able to recognise the flags of your own continent. Every African country is in the deck, each with its flag and the facts you need to place it on the map. It's made by Memory Scapes KE and sold in our store for KES 2,900.
What's in the box
A deck of country cards — one per African nation — showing the flag on one side and the country details on the other (region, capital, languages and currency), in a box small enough to live in a glove compartment. No board, no batteries, no app. Two people can play it; so can a classroom.
Three ways to play
1. Flash (2+ players, 5 minutes)
Shuffle. One player holds up a card flag-side out. First to name the country keeps the card. Most cards when the deck runs out wins. This is the version that gets played standing up in the kitchen while dinner cooks.
2. Regions (2–6 players, 15 minutes)
Deal the deck out. Players take turns laying a card and claiming its region — North, West, East, Central or Southern Africa. Get it right, the card stays down; get it wrong, take it back and skip a turn. First to empty their hand wins. Harder than it sounds once you hit the Sahel.
3. Neighbours (2–4 players, 20+ minutes)
Start with one card on the table. Each player must lay a card whose country borders one already on the table, building a map outward. Can't play? Draw. The game ends when someone runs out, and you'll end up with the continent roughly assembled in front of you. This is the version teachers use.
Those are our house rules — the box comes with its own game manual, and every family we know has invented a fourth.
Making it harder
- Capitals round: naming the country isn't enough — name the capital too.
- Colour ban: remove all the flags with red, green and gold (the pan-African colours) and play only with the rest. Suddenly there are no easy cards.
- Time it: the full deck, one player, stopwatch. Post your time on the fridge. Beat it next week.
Who it's for
- Families who've exhausted the usual card games. It's competitive enough for adults and simple enough that the youngest player can win on flags alone.
- Teachers — geography, social studies, a five-minute starter for any Africa topic. One deck covers a class in pairs.
- Anyone working across the continent — NGO staff, pilots, diplomats, sales teams — for whom "which flag is that?" is an actual work question. (If that's you, TravelNet's Africa regional eSIM is one data plan for the multi-country trip, so the phone keeps working as the flags change.)
- The car and the lodge. No board, no small pieces to lose in a safari vehicle.
- The gift that isn't another mug. Made in Kenya, about Africa.
Why flags?
Because they're the one thing every country chooses about itself. Kenya's shield and spears, Mozambique's rifle, Lesotho's hat, Eswatini's shield, the six stars of Equatorial Guinea — every one is a story about a country's history, and once you can recognise the flag you tend to want to know the story. That's the whole trick of the game: it's a memory exercise that keeps turning into a conversation.
Questions people ask
How many players?
From two upwards. Larger groups play in teams.
Is it for adults or for younger players?
Both, and it works best mixed — flag recognition is a level playing field.
Does it cover all of Africa?
Yes, every country on the continent.
Can schools order in quantity?
Yes. Email info@mysafaribooks.com and we'll quote for a class set.
Does it ship outside Kenya?
Yes, worldwide from Nairobi; free delivery within Nairobi.
Pairs well with
- Mambo Safari Adventure Book — the deep-dive on two of the countries in the deck.
- Kenya Flag Magnet — the first card, for the fridge.
- Bahari Safari: Coastal Quest — four more countries from the deck, in depth.
Want to see the countries rather than just their flags? Holiday Bazaar's destinations cover Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Zanzibar, the Seychelles and Mauritius — seven cards from the deck.
Get the African Countries Flag Game — KES 2,900 →
Sources and further reading
- African Union — Member States (the official list of the continent's countries and their flags)
- Flag histories mentioned above (Kenya's shield, Mozambique's rifle, Lesotho's hat, Eswatini's shield, Equatorial Guinea's six stars) — Encyclopaedia Britannica's national-flag entries
- Game contents and rules — the African Countries Flag Game box, made in Kenya by Memory Scapes KE
Written by Ruhan Shah, co-founder of My Safari Books and co-author of the Mambo Safari Adventure Book and Bahari Safari: Coastal Quest. Updated 01OCT2026.