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National | App Store

Newest te reo Māori game app Māori Pā Wars launches

Māori Pā Wars is a bi-lingual Māori tower defence game released by Adrenalin Games to promote the Māori language.

Adrenalin Games Manager Bradley Walker says, "We looked at some of the game platforms that are out there and we looked at what was a tower defence game, which was something that we thought would work well, reasonably easy to do and easy to translate into a Māori environment."

Graphics designer Ben Thomason says the app gave him an opportunity to translate traditional Māori art into a modern form.

"I really got to explore the digital space of what's essentially a traditional Māori art form and to put it into a digital space where people can see it in a different light."

Walker says there is growing international interest in Māori games and apps

"We're seeing people as young as 10-11 getting involved and starting with coding and doing game aspects so I'd encourage any of these rangatahi to get involved as early as possible."

The game includes a glossary of Māori war terms which were translated by te reo Māori guru Scotty Morrison.

Thomason says, "Through this game alone because it's on a platform that the Māori language isn't really used on and so there's a lot of room for learning. I think that's probably the coolest thing about the game is seeing a game like this in 100% te reo Māori."

Adrenalin Games have developed a strategy to create Māori Pā Wars II and they plan to release more kaupapa Māori games and apps in future.