There was a time when playing video games meant you had to leave the house. The sounds of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Galaga called as you pushed forward on your BMX. The coins in your pocket jangled as you pulled up outside the arcade, ready to beat the latest high scores.

It’s 1983, and young Hemi ‘Jimmy’ Te Rehua knows how to dominate the games at the Whakatāne Astrocade Amusement Parlour. Too smart for his own good, Jimmy has a knack for trouble. A computer whiz who snoozes through school, Jimmy is about to be given an education of a different sort when his mischief finds him working for the grouchy Astrocade owner, Mr Macrae.

It’s easy for Jimmy to work out the patterns of Mr Macrae’s video games but it isn’t quite so simple working out the formula for growing up. A uniquely Kiwi coming-of-age story, Astroman is full of heart, Michael Jackson dance moves and a giant dollop of ‘80s nostalgia.