Nunaka: My Village

Client: Chugachmiut

Camai! After you walk through a beautiful forest and settle by the campfire, your grandfather teaches you how to fish, while a bear waits for you to collect berries. Your adventures in “Nunaka: My Village” have just begun.

Chugachmiut, an Alaskan Native Tribal consortium, collaborated with FableVision to create Nunaka, a fun and engaging mobile game exploring Sugpiaq heritage, the Sugt'stun language, and key school readiness goals for 3-5-year-olds. 

In this story-driven game, players take on the role of a Sugpiaq child living with their grandparents, Emaa and Apaa, in a fictionalized version of a community based on Sugpiaq villages in the Chugach region. “Nunaka” contains eight episodes, each representing a day in the child’s life. After players create an avatar and choose a pet companion, they explore the village, completing activities and minigames, while collecting items and interacting with other residents of the village, including human characters and animals from the region. At the end of each episode, players receive a scrapbook entry summarizing the activities and learnings of the day.

FableVision made sure that the content and art accurately reflected the nuances of Sugpiaq culture. “Nunaka: My Village” was developed through two phases, both incorporating co-design with community elders, teens, and Head Start students. The co-design process was an important element in order to properly incorporate the language, traditions, and culture of the Sugpiaq community and heritage. 

Nunaka is now available as a mobile app for phones and tablets — download today on iOS and Google Play.

A Peek Inside

Product: 2D/3D Mobile game

Age Range: 3-5-year-olds