Levelling up of female gamers celebrated in new exhibition
Whether you're a noob or you've been levelling up your experience points for years, a new exhibition celebrating women in gaming will have something for you, Lucinda Blackley-Jimson says.
The chief executive for Nelson Provincial Museum should know.
While she’s quick to admit to not being a gamer, as she wanders around the Code Breakers: Women in Games exhibition ahead of its opening to the public on Friday, you suspect she may be buying a gaming console soon as she exclaims “this is fun” while giving a game a whirl.
“One of the things I really love looking at is the world building ... it’s a whole new art form, essentially, and it’s a significant media industry these days,” she said.
From delivering pizzas, to curing ills in the days of the plague and working through mental health, the exhibition offers an array of games for people to try their hand at.
The games are all developed by women gamers from Australia and New Zealand.
Amongst those being celebrated is Maru Nihoniho, founder and managing director of Metia Interactive and recipient of a New Zealand Order of Merit for her service to the gaming industry.
Blackley-Jimson said they were arranging for Nihoniho to make the trip down to Nelson to hold a talk about her experience in the gaming world as part of the exhibition.
“She takes a beautiful, cultural approach to her games ... really bringing a Māori kaupapa to her work so rangatahi can really see themselves in her games.”
Nihoniho had two games in the exhibition, including Sparx, a game with a mental health focus where players fight as a hero in a fantasy world to defeat the gloom alongside warriors, fire spirits and eagles.
“What they teach you will help you restore the balance in your own world too,” the blurb
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