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A fun way to learn your city

The Young Reporter (2008, December), 41(03), pp. 9.
Author: Natalie Wong Hiu-ying. Editor: Weekend Zhou Mo.
Permanent URL - https://sys01.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/bujspa/purl.php?&did=bujspa0007451

Natalie Wong Hiu-ying

A race result might surprise you: the star ferry navigated by a French student Ms Julie Olivier, 20, defeats all competitors steering their MTR engine, tram, junk and rickshaw.

When asked for the reason of victory, Ms Olivier attributed neither to her gifted sailing skill nor her superior turbo engine-installed ferry. Instead, she says humbly, “by luck, my limited knowledge of Hong Kong and the tips other competitors generously gave me.”

A new board game Hong Kong Quizztory allows players to pass through 100 years of Hong Kong history on the board. A group of five university students are finding that an hour’s laughter over a roll of the dice is a gratifying experience- to relax, to learn and to socialise.

Compared to the international rival Monopoly which started since 1934, and is sold in 103 countries and translated into more than 37 languages, Quizztory is a modest newcomer as it was just released in August, only sold in around ten local shops and comes in only Chinese and English. However, it still maintains its competitive edge: a “100% made in Hong Kong” board game which is designed, produced and sold locally.

Among the players, Mr Felix David, 23, is also from France who has been in Hong Kong for about two months. He made a surprising appearance when he discovered that local toilets in most apartment blocks use seawater for flushing.

“I simply couldn’t imagine it before. Fresh water is always used in my home country.” He adds, exploring local heritage in this way is very entertaining.

Such comment is music to the ears of Mr Stephen Barry, 36, the inventor of Quizztory. The name is combined by the words “Quiz” and “History” .

The idea of creating a Hong Kong themed game popped into his mind when he was quarantined in hospital with suspected SARS in 2003. Being advised to take a good rest physically in a ward, the managing director of Stepworks kept himself mentally busy, not on his marketing communication projects, but conceiving a brand new business of generating a board game.

Rough concepts turned into reality with the contribution of his staff. Every member in the company was asked to submit ten questions to the database every week.

“The hardest and most time-consuming task is to verify the information. We could not rely solely on the internet. We tried to check out pieces of data in library, history museums or from experts,” Mr Barry says.

One of the proposed questions is what the largest export item in terms of volume is in Hong Kong. The answer “sewage” from research is completely out of their expectation.

“They thought the local government sends it back to the Mainland for fertilisation. “It’s really interesting. But it’s a pity we cannot put it into the game as we failed to verify it with substantial figures,” he said.

Over a thousand multiple choices questions were finally shortlisted to two hundred. Topics vary from politics, movies, lifestyle and history. Quiz cards plus a sophisticated game board printed with remarkable events happened in Hong Kong. Quizztory tells fascinating stories one after one.

“Local traditional herbalists store their herbal drinks in a container shaped like what? ” In such a question, after knowing “a large gourd” as the answer, players’ mind do not sway to the next question immediately. Instead, they want to dig into the cultural titbits.

According to a literary allusion in Hang Dynasty, there was once an elderly Chinese doctor giving away pills inside a large gourd, which cured all patients of a plague in Henan. So herbalists followed the tradition and sold the drinks in the same shape, which hoped to convince customers of the powerful efficacy of their Chinese medicine.

It is a game for expatriates and locals, young and old. Having deeper knowledge about the territory is an advantage, but not a must for winning the game.

A nine-year-old boy often beats the founder Mr Barry when playing the game. “He has a better memory than I do. I often forget the answers even if I’ ve already read through the questions for many times,” laughs and says Mr Barry, father of the boy.

For a best and most enduring board game, level of strategies thinking and socialisation must be high, according to Angus Wong Chi-tat who is a professor of Higher Diploma Course in Creative Toy and Intelligent Product Design of Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) Tsing Yi Campus.

“Quizztory has more conditions to be an excellent educational tool than an exciting board game,” says Wong. It is informational enough but lack of strategies planning, and the rules are too straight forward.

Roll the dice, move the transport-themed playing pieces back and forth, and answer the heritage questions. These are all the winner Olivier did in rounds before she defeats three local players by reaching the finishing point first.

Wong says, “it is one of the very few of its kind in the local toy industry as board game is somehow considered as an ‘old-fashioned’ form of entertainment.”

“Making it educational is a wise strategy because parents in Hong Kong tend to choose toys not just for fun but also to whet children’s appetite for knowledge,” he adds.

Martin Leung Ka-ho, a student of Wong, chose to design a board game for his final year project. He thinks that Quizztory has high accessibility. “Anyone can play it, no matter who you are or what you like. That’s the magic of a fabulous board game. ”

In July 2007, Mr Barry was included among Perspective magazine’s “40 Under 40” group of noteworthy image shapers. For an entrepreneur who has been running his business successfully for 14 years, Quizztory is still very new to him with lots of uncertainties.

“It’s picking up sales but it’s too early to tell whether the game is successful or not. But no matter how it will turn out, there will not be any regret. I use my expertise to unleash my creativity and leave trails on my beloved local heritage,” he says.

Edited by Weekend Zhou Mo

How much do you know about Hong Kong?

Take the challenge now!

Questions selected from “Quizztory”

1. What does the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang, like to buy as a present for himself?

A. Jaguar sedans

B. Rolex watches

C. Bow ties

2. In 1841, how did the Hong Kong Post Office notify citizens of the arrival of their mails?

A. Rang a bell

B. Fired a cannon

C. Sent out carrier pigeons

3. According to Hong Kong road rules, when must a motorcycle have its headlamps turned on?

A. Always

B. Only when it is dark

C. During Chinese New Year

4. Hong Kong is the biggest global trader of...

A. Board games

B. Shark fin

C. Dim sum

Answers: 1. B 2. B 3. A 4. B

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