Description:

It’s holiday season and Aunty Tui wants you to join her as she travels around Aotearoa discovering epic vacation spots in our beautiful country.

Kiwis are an intrepid bunch – we love getting out and exploring this great country of ours. From Cape Reinga to the Bluff, there are some incredible places and faces to discover.

We created a game that entices our young tamariki to add some fun, excitement, and anticipation to their whānau’s holiday planning while reinforcing some of our great destinations and their cultural icons.

We want to spark curiosity and a sense of adventure in tamariki to explore their own backyard and discover unfamiliar places as well as those they already know and love.

As it did for many others, Covid-19 provided inspiration in a time of gloom. We saw an opportunity to reinvigorate Kiwis’ love for travel by showcasing some of Aotearoa’s vacation spots through an uplifting and warm-hearted game. A game that offers tamariki an opportunity to play a more integral part in the travel decision-making journey by becoming better informed about local destinations.

Targeted at kids aged 5-9, the game is delivered through HEIHEI and invites our nation’s tamariki to join Aunty Tui as she explores our country. Tui visits a raft of places and, wherever she goes, she sends a postcard inviting tamariki to join her in discovering some of Aotearoa’s well known, or well hidden, travel gems.

Before kids can join Aunty Tui they’re tasked with dressing and equipping their character with the appropriate clothing and accessories to match the destination they’re headed to. Once packed and ready to go, they’ll be whisked away to join her. She then heads off to her next destination and another postcard arrives…

The postcards contain visual and written clues to help kids decipher what items to pack. Once ready kids select the correct location on the map before travelling to that destination. The postcard then comes to life with a delightful animation and kids are rewarded with a stamp in their passport and a star rating.

Designed with Kiwi tamariki in mind, beautifully crafted design and whimsical illustrations bring the game to life alongside an intuitive interface with seamless and kid-tested game mechanics. Younger children can easily navigate their way through the game and enjoy the adventure while older children can test their geographical knowledge and observation skills.

Educational elements embedded naturally within the core of the game enable tamariki to learn about some of Aotearoa’s hidden gems, place names and Te Reo words for clothing and items.

A key feature of the game is the ability for kids to customise their character – selecting skin colour, facial and hair features giving them a plethora of choices to create a character to their own likeness or simply play with some fun combinations.

Postcards from Aotearoa is accompanied by an uplifting custom soundtrack that adds the final touch to an experience we hope Kiwi kids all around the country will relish.