Nau mai, haere mai.
My name is Niva Gram, and I am the founder of Iconic Games.
Launching Iconic Games at Matariki is intentional.
Matariki is a time for reflection, remembrance, gratitude, whānau, hope, and looking forward. It feels like the right time to officially begin this journey — not just as a business, but as something I hope can grow into a real source of learning, connection, creativity, and opportunity.
My path here has not been straight
I am a mum of four. I was born and raised in Auckland, later moved to Taranaki in 2017, and then to Taumarunui in 2023. My dad is Indian and my mum is Māori, Ngāti Whātua. I am proud of all the parts that make me who I am, but being Māori is something I hold especially close.
There have been hard parts in my life. Some experiences as a child shaped the path I took. I left school young, had a wild teenage season, became a mother, worked customer-facing jobs, moved around, learned through life, and slowly found my way back to education, business, creativity, and technology.
For a long time, I did not see a clear pathway for myself.
Now I am trying to build one — not just for me, but for others too.
From an arcade dream to a learning company
Iconic Games started with the dream of an arcade. I wanted a place where young people could go, hang out, play, connect, and feel like they had somewhere positive to be. That idea did not work out the way I first imagined, but the more I tried to problem-solve, the more I kept being led back to education.
I started to realise that the thing I cared about was bigger than an arcade.
It was learning. It was play. It was confidence. It was future pathways. It was the feeling of wanting people to have more options than I felt I had.
That is what Iconic Games is becoming.
A Māori-owned games and learning company built around a simple idea: learning should feel like play.
I want Iconic Games to support tamariki, rangatahi, adults, whānau, schools, kura, homeschoolers, and lifelong learners. I want it to be useful for people who love school and people who never felt like school was made for them. I want it to sit beside education as an alternative pathway, a support, and a creative way to engage people who learn differently.
Because people do learn differently.
Some people need story. Some need movement. Some need challenge. Some need culture. Some need technology. Some need whānau. Some need to feel safe before they can learn at all.
I believe games can help with that.
Games give people a reason to try. They make problem-solving feel active. They let people fail and try again. They create feedback, challenge, teamwork, curiosity, and joy. That is the kind of learning I want Iconic Games to create.
Proudly Māori
I am also deeply proud to be Māori.
Sometimes I feel like Māori identity, reo, tikanga, and ways of being are things we have to actively protect and carry forward. I want Iconic Games to be part of that future — not by keeping Māori ideas locked away, but by helping them live inside games, technology, learning, creativity, and business.
I want our people to thrive.
I want our tamariki and rangatahi to see that Māori can build in tech, games, education, business, design, AI, creativity, and whatever comes next. I want adults who are changing direction to know they can still learn, still grow, and still build something meaningful. I want to shine a light on what is possible.
Over time, I hope Iconic Games can work with New Zealand-owned businesses, schools, kura, whānau, creators, and communities. I hope it can grow into something that creates opportunities, not just products.
Building it our way
I am also choosing to build Iconic Games in a way that feels true to me. I am not starting with big investors or traditional funding rounds. My hope is to grow this as a whānau-owned and operated pakihi — bootstrapped, low-cost, careful, and built from the ground up.
That means the journey might be slower. It means I am learning as I go. It means I am using the tools, skills, time, support, and creativity I have available right now. But it also means Iconic Games can grow with its kaupapa intact.
The beginning
For now, this is the beginning.
Mīharo: Escape the Arcade. The 90s Edition. The Digital Library. The future learning direction. The dream of an Iconic Games Hub one day. All of it starts here.
Launching at Matariki feels right because this is a season of remembering where we have come from and setting intentions for where we are going.
I am grateful for everyone who has supported, encouraged, challenged, shared, tested, watched, or believed in this kaupapa so far.
Ngā mihi nui. I am looking forward to where this journey leads us.
— Niva