It's quite a story

Our role was to change perceptions that eels were icky, and slimy, and to help young visitors appreciate how smart and adaptable they are. We do that by putting the eel in their hands. Using a joystick, visitors guide the eel from the South Pacific all the way to Aotearoa where they begin their journey up a river - with the visitor's help.

The environment changes as they swim up through braided rivers and into quieter, deeper upstream pools where eels can live for around 100 years before returning to the South Pacific where eggs are fertilised and the cycle begins again.

User experience & design

To reinforce the life of an eel, we have used the stages of their life-cycle as "levels" to the game. Can you make it all the way to adulthood? This was such a simple solution to keep users engaged throughout the entirety of the game.

The low poly styled design helped us create a distinctive Aotearoa look, and we paid special attention to getting the sound, colours and lighting right, as well as adding an abundance of native plants including cabbage trees, punga and lupins.

We also needed to make it feel like an environment that people occupied too, so you can see a boat, rustic fences and most importantly a DOC sign tucked between a few harakeke bushes.