NZ Post has announced a new, collectible array of stamps, pins, and stickers celebrating New Zealand-made video games Dredge, Mini Metro, Into the Dead, Depth, and Bloons TD 6. While the collection has seemingly flown under the radar, it was surfaced by Game Consulting on Twitter / X, with several commenters praising the initiative.
As the NZ Post website states, New Zealand makes great games, and they’re certainly well worth celebrating. In 2023 alone, New Zealand game studios contributed NZD $434.4 million to the country’s economy – and this number will likely continue to grow.
Read: New Zealand game studios earned NZD $434.4 million in FY23
“Games developed in New Zealand have run the gamut from multi-million bestsellers to winners of every major international game award, and these stamps showcase a diverse mix of those commercial and critical successes,” NZ Post said of its new collection.
“Whether you play games to unwind on the bus or plugged into your PC, dialled in on a voice call with a half-dozen of your mates, video games provide a way to relax, to socialise, to explore, and to tap in to worlds both weirder and more expansive than our own.”
The games chosen are well-representative of the diversity of New Zealand video games. Dredge is a spooky, horror-themed fishing simulator. Bloons TD 6 is a colourful tower defence game. Into the Dead is a zombie action series with survival elements. Mini Metro is a cosy puzzle strategy game starring subway lines. Depth is a first-person shark shooter.
Each game is altogether different, and represents the hearty scope of games being made locally in New Zealand. To see NZ Post release a mainstream, widely available stamp collection to highlight the storytelling achievements of these games is wonderful. Here’s to hoping the idea catches on.
As announced, the NZ Post “Making Games – A Developing Industry” stamp, pin, and sticker collection will be available from 6 March 2024. Preorders are available now via the NZ Post website.
