S'pore firm launches game based in NZ in tie-up with Maori tribe

A Singapore-developed game has landed in the Land of the Long White Cloud, promising to unlock overlooked stories of New Zealand's indigenous Maori people.

- Ng Wei Kai

The WhatsApp app-based game - Hidden Aotearoa - is a tie-up between Singaporean tech and social enterprise Hidden Singapore and Ngati Kahungunu ki Tamaki-nui-a-Rua, which represents one of New Zealand's largest Maori tribes. Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand and means "land of the long white cloud".

The game is a self-guided adventure where players make their way through various locations led by a digital cat called Piata ("shiny eyes" in Maori), solving puzzles and exploring indigenous Maori history - as well as that of New Zealand's other ethnic groups along the way.

In doing so they will uncover stories about New Zealand's peoples and places in a more accessible and perhaps more lasting way, Ngati Kahungunu ki Tamaki-nui-a-Rua's chairman Hayden Hape told The Sunday Times in an interview before the game's launch.

The game was officially launched at an event on Nov 29 at Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand in its capital Wellington, and attended by the members of the tribes affiliated with the authority, as well as the game's co-founders, Mr Lim Yee Hung and Mr Loh Jun Wei, staff and guests.

Singapore's High Commissioner to New Zealand William Tan said in a speech at the event that the tie-up is a perfect blend of heritage and innovation.