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Recent Otago Polytechnic graduates Lilian Kidoo and Andrew Napper are, in a sense, a match made in cyberspace.
And they have also dreamed up a new computer game together.
Mr Napper (25) recently completed a bachelor of information technology degree at the polytechnic and Ms Kidoo (21) gained a bachelor of design (communication).
They were among the latest students to graduate last month.
Ms Kidoo said completing her degree was a "great achievement'' and she had been "very excited'' to graduate.
In academic terms, theirs is an interdisciplinary romance, but both graduates love playing computer games.
"We're really nerdy, we're always playing games and talking about games,'' she says.
She has been undertaking a 10-week internship with Dunedin gaming company Runaway Play, and Mr Napper is working in IT.
The couple earlier began creating a new computer game called Lost Souls and continue to work collaboratively to develop it, in their own time.
She has designed the characters and he has done all the coding and programming.
"It's a survival game, with a map, and it's much like chess but in a modern way,'' Ms Kidoo says.
Each player chooses characters and plays an opponent over the internet, with five characters on each side.
Mr Napper said it was a simplified version of some of the big games, but their game would be "much more fun''.
Ms Kidoo said their game would be be "less stressful'', although it also would be competitive.
She was born in Christchurch, but grew up in Japan, where computer gaming is more advanced and "really popular''.
By the age of 6 or 7, she was always playing Pokemon.
She returned to this country when she was 12.
She felt "quite lucky'', because when she began her Otago Polytechnic studies she thought she would not meet anyone who shared her enthusiasm for gaming.
"Then I met Andrew and his entire flat was into gaming.''
Many students in her communication design class were into art and making characters.
"And everyone was really friendly. It felt like family,'' she said.
