brought quite a unique experience to both Japanese and foreign gamers alike at Bitsummit in Kyoto last month – a respectful and authentic portrayal of Māori culture. This upcoming PC game isn’t the first project that developer Maru Nihoniho has worked on that explores Māori culture in a post-apocalyptic world, though. Her all-Māori company, Metia Interactive, has released interactive fiction mobile apps and short animations in the same world.
Still, Maru has her sights set on a much bigger release this time. “I’ve always enjoyed playing games, from the arcade games, right through to the big PlayStation and Xbox games, and I love a story-driven game,” said Maru. Some of the games that Maru has been influenced by in developing include , with all its adventure and puzzle-solving aspects; and , which explored heavy experiences of psychosis, while still being fun to play.
“Parts of those games have inspired and helped me work with the story and design of what I’m doing now.” But authentically representing Māori culture in a project as big as isn’t easy. “We’ve done it plenty of times on different platforms.
Film, television, books – it’s been done. But when it comes to a game, it’s interactive and it’s immersive and the player is in control,” she said. “How do we design the game in a way that holds all that respect but gives the player the knowledge that they need to, one, get through the game, but two, to understand the meaning of the cul.