{"id":21015,"date":"2025-11-30T14:38:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T13:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/30\/cool-and-quirky-is-part-of-our-brand-how-new-zealand-became-a-hothouse-for-indie-games\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T14:38:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T13:38:00","slug":"cool-and-quirky-is-part-of-our-brand-how-new-zealand-became-a-hothouse-for-indie-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/30\/cool-and-quirky-is-part-of-our-brand-how-new-zealand-became-a-hothouse-for-indie-games\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Cool and quirky is part of our brand\u2019: how New Zealand became a hothouse for indie games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kiwi developers are punching well above their weight thanks to a unique government support program that offers more than just grants<\/p>\n

Those not immersed in the world of gaming might not be familiar with Pax Australia: the enormous gaming conference and exhibition that takes over the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre every October. My favourite section is always Pax Rising, a showcase of indie video games and tabletop, the majority Australian \u2013 but there has been a recent shift that was particularly notable this year: many of the standout titles had crossed the Tasman, arriving from New Zealand.<\/p>\n

At the booth run by Code \u2013 New Zealand\u2019s government-funded Centre for Digital Excellence \u2013 18 Kiwi developers demoed their forthcoming games in a showcase of the vibrant local scene that was buzzing with crowds. In the comedic Headlice<\/a>, I controlled a parasitic headcrab monster which could latch on to people\u2019s brains and puppet them. How Was Your Day?<\/a>, a cozy time-loop game set in New Zealand, warmed my heart with its story about a young girl searching for her missing dog. And Killing Things With Your Friends<\/a>, a co-operative multiplayer action game about surviving bizarre medical trials, had me pulling off my own arm to use as a weapon against enemy hordes.<\/p>\n

Continue reading…<\/a>
\nKiwi developers are punching well above their weight thanks to a unique government support program that offers more than just grants
\nThose not immersed in the world of gaming might not be familiar with Pax Australia: the enormous gaming conference and exhibition that takes over the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre every October. My favourite section is always Pax Rising, a showcase of indie video games and tabletop, the majority Australian \u2013 but there has been a recent shift that was particularly notable this year: many of the standout titles had crossed the Tasman, arriving from New Zealand.
\nAt the booth run by Code \u2013 New Zealand\u2019s government-funded Centre for Digital Excellence \u2013 18 Kiwi developers demoed their forthcoming games in a showcase of the vibrant local scene that was buzzing with crowds. In the comedic Headlice, I controlled a parasitic headcrab monster which could latch on to people\u2019s brains and puppet them. How Was Your Day?, a cozy time-loop game set in New Zealand, warmed my heart with its story about a young girl searching for her missing dog. And Killing Things With Your Friends, a co-operative multiplayer action game about surviving bizarre medical trials, had me pulling off my own arm to use as a weapon against enemy hordes. Continue reading…Technology | The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kiwi developers are punching well above their weight thanks to a unique government support program that offers more than just grants Those not immersed in the world of gaming might not be familiar with Pax Australia: the enormous gaming conference and exhibition that takes over the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre every October. My favourite …<\/p>\n

\u2018Cool and quirky is part of our brand\u2019: how New Zealand became a hothouse for indie games<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":21016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21015"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}