New · Seeking funding Developed in the Google DeepMind AI for the Planet Accelerator

Gamifying Hark: nature makes the game.

A web app for young people aged 12 to 18. A real Hark in a real landscape hears something, AI helps identify it, and players investigate what that species depends on and what threatens it. As they learn, the landscape on screen comes alive. The aim is for young people to see the nature around them differently, and step back outside to find it.

The ask NZ$600,000 to build a fully functioning product

We have a working prototype. Your funding turns it into a fully functioning product, piloted with schools, parks and conservation partners in New Zealand and Australia.

About US$350,000 See ways to fund
How it plays
Listen→Discover→Connect→Understand→Imagine→Act→Verify→Share
SchoolsSchool grounds become a living laboratory for ecology, science, AI and mātauranga.
Parks and museumsVisitors scan a QR code and investigate the species around them in a 3 to 5 minute experience.
FamiliesScreen time that sends young people outside to discover what lives near home.
DonorsOne gift, two impacts: more biodiversity monitoring and a new generation engaged in conservation.
Why it matters

The screen as a doorway into nature, not the destination.

Nature can feel far from young people’s everyday lives, and biodiversity is often taught as facts and species names. The game uses things young people already enjoy, like AI, games and discovery, to send them back into the real world.

The goal is for players to ask: What is living here? Why is it here? What does it depend on? What threatens it? What could I do to help?

Every play counts

Every discovery becomes real conservation data.

This isn’t a game about nature. It runs on nature. Each time a young person plays, they help build the record that guides the work on the ground.

01→
Hark listensA Hark station in the forest records birdsong and predator calls around the clock.
02→
Players discoverYoung people hear the real recordings, identify species and unlock the Web of Life.
03→
Data gets checkedPlayers’ identifications are checked against Hark’s AI and our ecologists, then added to the record.
04→
Rangers actBetter data shows rangers where predators are and where birds are coming back.
05↺
Nature recoversMore birds means more to hear, and more for the next player to discover.

Then the loop starts again. The more people play, the more we learn.

What your funding delivers

01A fully functioning productTaking our working prototype to a finished, reliable game.
02PilotsTrials with schools, parks and conservation partners in New Zealand and Australia, with rangatahi co-design.
03Access for allSponsored Hark devices and game access for schools and communities that couldn’t otherwise afford them.
Ways to fund

Fund all of it, or one part.

NZ$600,000total, about US$350,000
Lead partner1 place
NZ$600,000About US$350,000

Fund the whole build as the founding funder of the game. Your name sits alongside Hark at launch and on the first season of the game, and you join our project steering group.

Become the lead partner
Fund an engineer3 places
NZ$160,000About US$93,000

Funds one engineer for six months to build the game. You meet your engineer, get demos as features ship, and are credited in the game.

Fund an engineer
Fund a school pilot12 places
NZ$10,000About US$5,800

Puts the game, a Hark station and teaching support into one school in New Zealand or Australia. You get feedback from the students who play.

Fund a school

One lead partner can fund the full NZ$600,000, or it can be shared: 3 engineers (NZ$480,000) + 12 school pilots (NZ$120,000) = NZ$600,000.

The next six months

From prototype to launch, and you see every step.

Every funder gets a short monthly update from Miranda and the team, plus the milestones marked below.

Month 1Design with rangatahiNgāti Maru rangatahi and students help shape the game from the prototype.
Months 2–3Core buildLive Hark recordings, species identification and the Web of Life.Funder update · Demo for funders
Month 4Pilots beginSchools, parks and conservation partners in New Zealand and Australia start playing.
Month 5Learn and refineWe improve the game using what players and teachers tell us.Funder update · Pilot results shared
Month 6LaunchA fully functioning product, ready for schools everywhere.Funder update · Impact report
Help gamify Hark

Fund it, pilot it, or sponsor a school.

We’re looking for philanthropic and commercial partners, schools and parks to help bring the game to young people.

Talk to us about funding Pilot it at your school or park