It’s o-fish-al. This year’s Minecraft competition was off the scales. Thanks to everyone who dived in and sent us their design for an exhibit at the National Aquarium. We received a record number of entries and the standard was fin-tastic! Congratulations to this year’s winners  …

Primary (Years 1-6)

• 1^st             Little Blue Penguin Aquarium, Cairo and Angus, Douglas Park School
• 2^nd         My Aquarium, Nicole Jacobs, Kristin School
• 3^rd          The Big Blue, Ella Pocklington, Millie Brown, Maddie A’Court, and George Ogle, Paparoa Street School

Honourable mentions: Wheke Madness, Kylie Seiler and Kaitlyn Botha, The Gardens School, and Brilliantly Armoured, Francisco Ryan-Orr and Loki Che, Our Lady Of The Sacred Heart School Epsom

Intermediate (Years 7-8)

• 1^st          The Lion’s Mane Exhibit, Olivia Thompson, Jakob Painter, Heath Hammond, and Malachi Cylis, Rāwhiti School
• 2^nd         The Aquatic Aquarium, Sabine Bryce, Rangi Ruru Girls’ School
• 3^rd          NZ National Aquarium, Janna Bee and Carys Shaw, Ladbrooks School

Honourable mention: Extraordinary Polar Bear Exhibit, Kip Sinton, William Mitchell and Cohen Telford, Mount Maunganui Intermediate

Secondary (Years 9+)

• 1^st          The Reef Walkers, Tysen Southey, Arth Patel, Quinn Hewitt, and Conrad Sale, Rathkeale College
• 2^nd         Mangrove Haven, Shaun Paul, St John’s College, Hillcrest
• = 3^rd       Infinite Aquarium, Kieran Clark and Aaron Macintosh, Waimea College
• = 3^rd       Abdul Aquarium, Jojo Putra, Caelyx Calagos and Abdul Ziwani, Bayfield High School

Honourable mention: Reef, Michael Wu, Kingsway School

Winning videos

For a selection of the winning videos go to interfaceonline.co.nz/minecraft-competition-winning-videos-2023/

Prize packages

In addition to bragging rights as the best Minecrafters in the land, each winning entry will receive:

• Pack of National Aquarium of New Zealand (NANZ) ocean-themed merchandise.
• Virtual penguin encounter
• Marine Stewardship Council expert beamed to the classroom for discussion.
• Training session with a professional game developer.

Second and third placed entries receive a pack of NANZ ocean-themed merchandise.

Thanks to our competition judges: Rachel Haydon and Amy Stevens (National Aquarium of New Zealand); Alex Webb, Perya Short and Rika Milne (MSC); and Greg Adams (INTERFACE).

Check out the competition details at interfaceonline.co.nz/minecraft2023/

INTERFACE November 2023