FAQ's

What is the GOOT Game?

The GOOT Game is a travel game designed to encourage you to see more of New Zealand. The GOOT game will take you off the beaten track and take you places you might not normally see. It is also an opportunity for a little friendly competition and gives you and your friends or family the chance to see how good a traveller you really are... and win prizes!
How does it work?

The GOOT Game is simple. We have selected one hundred and fifty locations, icons, objects and people around New Zealand. Competitors in the GOOT Game need to find as many of these items as possible, get a photo of themself or their whole team with that item and they will be awarded points based on the perceived difficulty of locating them. The team or individual who collects the most points each month wins. There are also other ways to gain points by completing treasure hunts, challenges or even by playing GOOT Golf.

To view the GOOT Game Rules in detail go to: How to Play
Why should I play?

The GOOT Game is fun and can provide a purpose for your travel. By playing the game you will end up stopping in those small towns that you would otherwise drive straight through. You will meet more local people and see more things. And of course there are prizes for the best teams each month.
Who can play?

The GOOT Game is open to anyone but is ideal for backpackers, students and families from overseas who want to see more of New Zealand. Kiwi's are welcome to play as well. We are curious to see which groups are the best travellers.
So what are the rules?

For a detailed list of the GOOT Game Rules go to: How to Play

This FAQ will also list a number of answers to your questions regarding how the GOOT Game works.

If your question is not answered then email us at game@goot.co.nz
Are there any specific photos you won't accept?
Actually yes there are... this is very important to note before you go getting lots of photos, we don't want you to waste your time getting shots we won't accept.

Below are the categories with specific photos we won't accept.

KIWIANA
- Note carefully what the photo says... a few of them say 'Eating Pavlova' or 'Eating a Hangi Pie'. We will no longer accept photos of people just holding one in a shop or supermarket. You must actually be eating them with wrapper or packaging showing as well. It's been done well by others so look for examples in the gallery if you're not sure how.
- Likewise 'Wearing a Swanndri' means actually wearing it etc.
LIGHTHOUSES
- You need to get as close as possible to them as possible, that's all part of the challenge. If the lighthouse is too distant don't be surprised if we don't approve it. You might be able to zoom in on it on your camera but we won't be zooming in. We want to be able to see it when viewed web size of 800 x 600 pixels on screen.
MODES OF TRANSPORT
- Read the description carefully... if it says 'Riding a Surfboard' we will accept standing on a surfboard in the shallow water but will no longer accept standing on a surfboard stationary in a bedroom or surfshop! In other words we want to see that you actually went surfing!
- Likewise 'Riding a Bicycle' means riding it not sitting on it stationary... 'Riding a Skateboard' means "In Action" not standing stationary in a shop.
- Paddling a kayak we will accept sitting in a kayak in shallow water before or after your trip which shows you actually did it. The same applies to Parachuting... if you don't get the actual photo package showing you mid air then a photo afterwards in your parachute gear on the ground will be fine... we want to know you actually did it.
SIGNS
- We will only accept the signs shown in the pictures in the passport or in the guide online... variations of these will not be accepted.
FLORA & FAUNA
- We don't accept photos of stuffed animals/insects in a museum... roadkill is ok (i.e. possum!) but the idea is to find the real thing while on your travels.
- We don't accept photos of you holding a postcard or photo of that plant, animal etc! Again it needs to be the real thing.
- Pohutakawa... there are heaps of these trees around but it's quite common to find a Pohutakawa frond in a vase for decoration... if it's real we'll accept that.
- Snapper... you should go fishing and catch one but if you've bought one to eat it must be whole so we can see it's clearly snapper.
SUMMITS
- You must be on the summit or very near the summit, close enough to show you made the effort to get to the top.
- Mt Hobson is not the one in Auckland... it's out on Great Barrier Island. In the past we havn't made that clear enough and accepted one or two from the wrong one but not any more.
FAMOUS TOWNS
- The main signs do sometime change so don't worry it'll be pretty obvious if it's changed from what we've shown so get the photo.
I can't find the list of photos to collect

In the main menu under How to Play you'll see the 'Category Guide', this lists all the categories/photos to collect and their associated points.
What is the GOOT Passport & do I need it?

No you don't need it to play the GOOT Game. The GOOT Passport book has the GOOT Game categories listed in it but you can also get those online here once you have signed up to play.

The GOOT Passport is a small Passport sized book which mostly contains discounts & deals to our GOOT Partners around New Zealand. This is given to students who arrive in New Zealand through one of our University or Study Partner programs. We are also working on distributing the GOOT Passport through other avenues such as Backpackers and travel companies.

For more information on the GOOT Passport and our online guide to NZ go to www.goot.co.nz
Can I play more than 1 month?

Yes you can play more than 1 month... BUT, photos can only be submitted once to each category, ever.

This means if you don't collect all the photos in the first month (very few people get even close to half of them in a month!) then you still have a chance to play a second month... or third!

Why would you? (hey that's a subFAQ!?)
In our experience you'll go out and get a lot of easier photos in the first month, stuff that's closer to home... not that you have to do it that way but most do. So if you then end up playing a second or third month you'll find you're getting down to some tougher photos to collect but remember the harder they are the more points they earn. That actually levels the playing field more against new teams still playing thier first month, they'll be out racking up lots of easy/lower point photos while you go for the big guns like a seasoned pro.
Why can't I re-enter a photo in a new month?

As explained in the previous question, you can only enter a photo once... ever.

The reason behind this is to keep the playing field as level as possible for all. We have everyone from travellers to students to families to locals playing... all with varying degrees of time and money at their disposal. While we can never entirely level the field in a given month we can try to spread the odds better.
But I could just use an old photo?

Ahaa but you can't! We have the 'Thingy of the Month'.

Only photos taken during the game month are valid. You cannot save up your photos for a few months and then send them all in one go. To stop competitors cheating there is a new object or activity announced each month which must be visible in the photo with you. This "Thingy" will be announced at the start of each new month.
Is that countdown clock accurate?

Quite Possibly Not!

That is a countdown to the end of the month if you hadn't figured this out... BUT it's just meant as a guide. DO NOT try and time all your uploads down to the last second on that clock because you might get caught out.

Why? The countdown clock is just a guide and may be out by a few minutes... or more. I wouldn't risk it. If it looks completely wrong you should check the time and date on the computer you're using at the time... because this timer actually reads the time & date from there, not our server. In other words if your computer clock is wrong it will display wrong on our site (just for you while on that computer).

You get bonus points by being in the lead at the end of the 7th, 14th and 21st day of each month so upload throughout the month.
What if my photos are still not approved by the end of the month?

Don't worry they're all time-stamped based on when you uploaded them so they will count towards that month.

We attempt to have them all approved as quickly as possible when the new month rolls over and if there's still a few 'Pending' points on the leaderboard for the month just finished then we're still cleaning it all up and the winner will be announced on the Prizes page asap.
I accidentally submitted the wrong photo!
If you email us straight away at game@goot.co.nz and let us know:
- Your Team Name
- Category & Photo
We'll delete it and reply to let you know when you can re-submit it. If this happens too close to the end of the month we can't guarantee it will get done in time for you to re-submit.

In exceptional circumstances we will request you send us the replacement photo and we'll replace it manually ourselves.
My photos file sizes are too large

Photos uploaded need to be under 2MB file size so some may need to be resized.

Fortunately you can do that online very easily with this tool: http://pixlr.com/express/ - we'd suggest setting width to 800 pixels and save it as a .jpg before uploading here.

The Pixlr website also has a more complex online editor that's very cool too... http://pixlr.com/editor/ a bit like photoshop in your web browser!
I signed up to play but didn't get an activation email

The first thing to check if you haven't already is your emails spam folder... some email systems treat automated activation emails as spam.

If it definitely hasn't turned up after 30mins then email us at game@goot.co.nz from the email account you signed up under and we'll look into it for you. If we need to we can just activate it ourselves manually because by then we know you're a real person!
Do all team members need to be in the photo?

Yes, to receive the associated points all members of your team need to be in the photo. Sometimes you will need to get creative with how you take the photo, especially if there is no one else there. And if there are other people around it is a good way to meet people.
Do all members of the team need to be wearing GOOT apparel to receive the bonus point?

No, only one member of the team needs to be wearing GOOT apparel.
How do we find the people listed in the GOOT Game?

You can google them, search on facebook or in some case you will need to turn up in their hometown and start asking around!
Do the people know we are coming?

Yes, they have all agreed to be part of the game and look forward to meeting you. Although we have not asked John Key, the All Blacks or the policemen (so you will have to take your chances with them).
How does the treasure hunt work?

To get started with the treasure hunt you need to decipher the first clue. In the Auckland hunt you need to find the location of the first museum in Auckland. There is a plaque indicating where the museum used to be. Find this plaque and then use the code cracker to find your next clue. Send in your completed clues to use to get the bonus points.