Guardian Maia
Guardian Maia is a 3rd person action-packed adventure game where science fiction and traditional Indigenous Māori culture collide. Save your people from a mutant tyrant as you journey across the unforgiving post-apocalyptic landscape of New Zealand’s South Island in a game where your choices matter.
Game Details
Game Name
Guardian Maia
Developer
Release Window
Q4 2026
Rating
Teen
Genre
Single player, 3rd person action-adventure
Target Platforms
PC and console
Game Engine
Unreal Engine 5
Features
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Authentic representations of Māori culture, and traditional genealogical stories are embedded into the gameplay.
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Action-adventure gameplay with athletic exploration and traversal options.
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Crunchy combat designed to mirror the brutality of Māori martial arts.
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Dynamic environments to explore from lush New Zealand forests, mountains, and rivers, to dilapidated futuristic buildings, and reimagined Māori villages.
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A linear narrative experience where the player's choices will have an affect on their Mana and gameplay outcomes.
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An Indigenous female lead character created by an Indigenous led team.
Log line
When a cruel tyrant breaks the rules, a young woman embarks on a perilous search for answers and hope in a harsh post-apocalyptic Aotearoa.
Synopsis
In the year 2050, an airborne toxin, known as the Grey Death, was released into New Zealand. Over the next 500 years, it spread, causing devastating changes to the people, flora and fauna of the land. The Grey Death caused some humans and creatures to mutate, turning them aggressive, territorial and toxic.
Born into this world is Maia, a forest guardian who holds extraordinary strength and agility. When Maia’s best friend falls ill from the lethal effects of the Grey Death toxin Maia traverses the land from her traditional Māori settlement to the technological hubs of the region in search of a cure.
Throughout Maia’s journey, she will unravel her father's 500-year-old past and find it in herself to forgive but not forget his shortcomings. It’ll be up to her to reconcile with her family’s past whilst bringing hope to everyone’s future, including her own.
Story
It’s 2550, Maia, an orphaned forest guardian from the Piopiotahi tribe, is her people’s last hope at saving them from the deadly and infectious Grey Death toxin leaked by a mutant tyrant, otherwise known as her father. Hungry for power, the mutant tyrant, Moko, and his wicked puppeteer Whiro, the God of Darkness, are determined to make the vulnerable suffer in a bid to control the region. Unlocking information on three hidden kete (baskets) of knowledge is the only way to cure the infected. All that’s needed is one brave soul who’ll embark on a treacherous quest to find them all before Moko does.
Guided by Māori deities, players will help Maia search for the three kete as she uncovers secrets to the curious world around her. Players will battle ruthless mutated creatures, androids, and Moko’s agressive warriors who stand in Maia’s way. Although the player's best form of defence is Maia’s trusted greenstone club, they’ll need to be careful with how they wield it as every choice will impact their mana (social standing) and how others perceive them. Will you fight or befriend the conniving forest fairies to get your stolen resources back?
Throughout Maia’s journey, she’ll learn how to reconcile with her father and family’s complicated past in order to bring hope to everyone’s future, including her own. Guardian Maia is a story about the importance of understanding and accepting our genealogy and lineage so we can reach our greatest potential.
Videos
Game Demo Video
Cinematic Preview - coming soon
Publisher and Funders
Pitch Materials
Playable Demo
A playable demo of Guardian Maia is available on request. A link will be sent for you to download.
Contact: guardian@metia.co.nz
Pitch Deck
Our pitch deck is available on request. The pitch deck will be sent to you.
Contact: guardian@metia.co.nz
Film Producers
In 2021, Metia released ‘Guardian Maia Episodes 1 and 2’, two choose your own adventure storybooks, on Apple iOS and Google Android which became the basis for the Guardian Maia game currently in development.
The full script of Guardian Maia Episodes 1 - 3 are available on request. We have created a linear story based of the Guardian Maia gamebooks.
We also have film and television treatments available based on the current story, the sequel to the gamebook stories.
Contact: guardian@metia.co.nz
Screenshots
Social Media
Updates on Guardian Maia’s development across social media and have since accumulated over 1.2 million likes and 70,000 followers in two years. With the success of the storybooks and social media postings, Metia has fostered an online community of people eager to see authentic portrayals of Indigenous Māori culture in games.
Media
Awards
About Metia Interactive
Based in Auckland, New Zealand, Metia Interactive is a video game studio founded in 2003 by managing director Maru Nihoniho, who was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2016 for her work in gaming and mental health. For the past 20 years, Metia has been committed to creating inclusive and accessible games for all players which weave together universal themes and authentic representations of Indigenous Māori culture. Metia’s shipped games include the puzzle game ‘Cube’, published by D3 Publisher in 2007, and the award winning ‘SPARX’, an e-therapy game made in association with the University of Auckland which gives young people tools to manage their mental health.
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