International travel is off the cards. So NZ invented the world’s first ‘gameplay walkthrough’ of a country

Sick and tired of being left off maps, New Zealand has engineered a genius new tourism campaign in the form of a video game. But there’s a catch... it’s not real.

Play NZ isn't a real game but it's based on a real country. Source: Tourism New Zealand/ YouTube

Its borders may be closed indefinitely but that hasn't stopped New Zealand from launching its latest tourism campaign ‘Play NZ’ this week.

The virtual experience has been dubbed “the world's first gameplay walkthrough of the real world” and “a vacation for your eyes”.

Play NZ shows off the best of the country, zeroing in on its unreal beauty and rich culture. So naturally, I spent a good 30 minutes trying to figure out how to play it until I realised that it’s not actually real.

You could say this is New Zealand’s drop bear equivalent. They’ve released a brilliant game that you can’t actually play. A genius virtual walkthrough that would make you want to hop on the next plane to Auckland if it wasn’t for the whole global pandemic thing.

The promo for Play NZ kicks off with Australian gamer Loserfruit met with majestic shots of New Zealand’s snow-covered mountains and the booming narration of actor Julian Dennison, who featured in Deadpool 2. 

She’s asked to choose a realm and is soon confronted by the guardian of Ti Tihio Tawa Forest, Tāne the Kaitiaki. He doesn’t let her pass until she promises to care for the forest. When Loserfruit says “hell yeah”, she’s told to jump on a mountain bike and “avoid chaffing and pick up points for style”.

The guardian of Ti Tihio Tawa Forest, Tāne the Kaitiaki. Source: YouTube/ Tourism New Zealand

After being complimented on her “epic tree avoidance”, she’s given an oar to go white water rafting before having a dance-off with Tim The Minotaur (yes, really). 

Dad dancing aside, the game is sure to make you want to get that Trans-Pacific travel bubble happening ASAP. And it’s not the first time NZ has wowed us with a tourism campaign.

Remember when the country tackled the world’s latest conspiracy theory: that the country was disappearing off world maps?

The memorable tourism campaign featured Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Kiwi comedian Rhys Darby and randomly, Ed Sheeran. 

And its conclusion? Australia had been stealing New Zealand’s tourists and England wanted to get rid of the All Blacks. Or a second option: maybe people had just been leaving the weirdly shaped country off maps thinking it was a mistake?

There was also that time that New Zealand trolled Australia on April Fool's Day by hijacking its 'Nothing Like Australia' campaign, with the Twitter handle 'NothingLikeAus' redirecting users to New Zealand’s official tourism site.

‘‘So, April 1st is almost over... Thanks to Tourism Australia for having an great sense of humour. We’re looking forward to handing over this page to them real soon. Cheers to everyone for sharing the fun. ~ Love NZ,’’ Tourism New Zealand wrote on Facebook.

New Zealand may be so tiny that it can organise its own national Secret Santa but it sure knows how to create a killer tourism campaign.