A Kōrero with Guardian Maia Creator: Maru Nihoniho

NEWS | INTERVIEW | GAMES

Written by Caeden Tipler (they/them) | @caedentipler | News Editor

Maru Nihoniho is the founder of the game design and development studio Metia Interactive. Their latest project, Guardian Maia, is a “hybrid historical/science-fiction story that draws on the mythology of Māori culture in Aotearoa.” Nihoniho shared her experience developing Indigenous games throughout her career, and how this experience has helped shape the grounding force that is Te Ao Māori in Guardian Maia.

Can you talk about the new game you’re developing?

I've designed a few games in my 20 years of game development, but the biggest and the latest project that we're working on is called Guardian Maia. This was an idea that I had many, many years ago and it's just come to fruition with some funding we received from the New Zealand Film Commission. Since then we've been able to develop from a script into an interactive game. Currently, we're developing the 3D, single-player action-adventure version of Guardian Maia.

How has Te Ao Māori tied into Guardian Maia? 

Guardian Maia is built on Te Ao Māori. When people ask me, “Is that a Māori game?” I'm like, yes, it is definitely a Māori game. The themes within the story are very much Māori, featuring our language and mythologies. Our main character and the many other characters in the game are Māori. 

Guardian Maia is also set in the future. It forces us to ask what our culture will look like in the future. We consulted with a lot of people, experts in their fields, around Mātauranga Māori just to make sure that what we're thinking will align with our culture. It's not a story that was written overnight or even written in a year. It's been years of development and consultation design. We just need to make sure that what we do is good, what we do is right, and that we portray our culture in a really respectful and authentic way.

Do you usually have a focus on Indigenous games? Or is this a first for you?

We've worked on many games previously and we've worked with different iwi and different hapū to bring their stories to life. We've worked on other commercial-type games that feature our culture as well. One of the first games we worked on was called Mighty Pā Wars. That was actually the first game that was fully translated into Te Reo. So we've had good experience and built our skill sets in developing other Indigenous games. Working with other Indigenous people that aren't from Aotearoa, sometimes you think, “oh, the culture might be quite different”. But we're almost the same culturally. We've got similar values and similar ways of doing things. So working with other indigenous cultures was no big surprise. They have been really, I won't say easy, but easier than you would think processes to work through because they're very similar to ours.

Is creating games that are focused on indigenous cultures something you have gotten a lot of support to do? 

I have gotten a lot of support from within the organisations that I work with. Some were done through iwi or the Ministry of Education and some of them through private indigenous organisations. So in that respect, the support is there, because that is the project that we're building. In terms of getting a game like Guardian Maia, which is quite a huge game, to the international market, it's really the same as any other game. We have to think about what makes our game unique. Is there anything different about it? Is it going to be something that the global market will want to see? You have an idea and you want to develop that idea into a game, and quite often you need support to fund the development of that game. Then once the game has finished, you’ve got to make sure that people know that your game actually exists. So making the game is one thing and making sure that there's an audience for that game is another.

I first heard of you when I saw Guardian Maia on TikTok…

TikTok is actually our biggest platform in terms of our following. 

You’re TikTok famous, I'd say.

TikTok has been really good for us because I meet so many people that I don't know and we talk about gaming. They’re like, oh, what do you do? I say I make games and they're like, what kind of games do you do? I tell them Indigenous games. And then they'll say to me there’s this really cool Māori game called Guardian Maia that they've seen on the socials. And I'm like, yeah, that's my game. That's the whole point of pushing out content on social media, to build an audience. It’ll be really helpful when the game is on the market and people will say they’ve seen it on TikTok or wherever they've seen it. In an earlier comment, I said making the games is only half of what you have to do, and letting people know that it's out there is the other half. That's what I did with Guardian Maia. One question that posting on social media also answers is if people will want to play this game. In our case, will people want to play a multi-game built by Māori? Our following answered that question. A lot of our audience is global. So I think that if we are able to get people not from New Zealand interested, then we will probably be okay. 

Are games like Guardian Maia then bringing Te Ao Māori to the world?

It’s another way to do it. Our culture is already in all other forms of media. So I think that bringing our culture onto the gaming platform is just a natural progression. You learn by playing, you learn by doing so I think that the gaming platform is perfect for teaching without teaching. People will just learn by interacting by going through your story. I think this is the perfect platform for engagement, immersion, and of course, education. 

When can we expect to be able to play Guardian Maia?

Next Monday we're going to the bid summit show in Kyoto and we will be showing the updated version of our demo. Our timeframe for the development and release of Guardian Maia is about two years after signing an agreement. So if we’re signed this year, then two years from now. We'll see how we go.

That's very exciting. Is there anything else about your experiences with creating Indigenous games you’d want to speak to? 

I think this is a really great opportunity for us to tell our stories because of the immersion and educational value that you can push into a game. There's definitely an opportunity for Māori stories on gaming platforms. Though it is incredibly difficult to hit the global market. And when you are trying to pitch a Māori game, or an indigenous game, even to publishers or investors, you have another layer that you need to explain to them as well - the cultural layer. You're gonna do a pitch, but you also have to pitch your culture as well. 

Do you have any advice for students wanting to follow in your footsteps?

You have got to start somewhere and you've got to start small. When I decided I wanted to do Guardian Maia years and years ago, I learned very quickly that making a game that was going to cost millions of dollars can’t happen overnight. I started to make smaller games first; with simple storylines, and simple graphics. It's very important to build that experience. Then if you decide that you want to work for yourself as an indie, okay, cool, you've already made a project that's out there. Or if you're looking for work in the industry, then you've got a demo or a prototype to show. Everyone can read your CV, but if you send a playable demo with that, then that shows your skills. I think that's my advice for anyone who's starting in the industry, whether you want to go indie, or whether you are looking for a job, build stuff that is quick to build. So you have lots of time to polish it, make it look amazing, or as amazing as you can. Little steps to get to the bigger goal! 

…I was super excited, having seen most of your TikToks, about interviewing you today. Thank you for your time!

I'm glad you enjoy our social media content. We'll continue to share our content and updates as we get through development. We've got a few new ones coming up soon. We've just got to fix some bugs and then I can do some recording. 

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.