Kiwi Kai was designed to encourage young New Zealanders to explore the concept of He aha he kai hauora? or What is a healthy food?

The essence of Te Ao Māori is woven through Kiwi Kai’s design, which includes 240 farm scenarios and 140 chores reflecting the real-world social, economic and environmental context of farming, drawing on expertise in agriculture, ecology, mātauranga Māori, and education.

Nature-based quests lie at the heart of Kiwi Kai, helping the player appreciate what it means to practise kaitiakitanga (guardianship), pursuing gold, silver, or bronze as a ‘Pātiki Protector’, ‘Awa Ally’, ‘Repo Restorer’, ‘Ngahere Nurturer’ or ‘Pest Controller’. Evidence-based biodiversity assessments previously developed for NZ farms with NZ stakeholders and scientists provided the basis for the quest designs.

A kiwi guide invites the player to discover what taiao (nature) lives in each farm habitat and encourages them to restore what’s missing, enhancing the habitat’s mauri (lifeforce), with good choices revealing hidden taonga (treasures) and rewards.

The game design process got a fast start Geo AR Games’ experience in novella style games. The tool features five unique reward rooms to visualise changes on the farm, using 500 graphics including bespoke artwork of New Zealand’s unique biodiversity and environment.

The Science Learning Hub provides wrap-around articles (with supporting videos and interactives) that make it easy for teachers to use Kiwi Kai as a springboard for science and Te Ao Māori learnings aligned with Levels 3-4 of the NZ Curriculum.