1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,800 Speaker 1: I've spent a little bit of time this morning trying 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:05,199 Speaker 1: to get to grips and it doesn't look too difficult. 3 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: With a board game which is going to be launched 4 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:11,879 Speaker 1: tonight at Exclusive Books down at the Wardfront between five 5 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: and seven. It's called finn Master. Play Your Way to 6 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: Wealth can be played between two and six. People should 7 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,440 Speaker 1: take about an hour to play. And we join now 8 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: by Elijah jan who is co founder creator of finn Master. Elijah, 9 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: good afternoon and well done. It looks like a really 10 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: cool game. 11 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 2: Thank you so much, John, I really appreciate it. 12 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 1: Obviously, you wouldn't launch it if you didn't think they 13 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: were a market for it, and it struck me that 14 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:43,639 Speaker 1: that's quite a brave punt to take. Or is there 15 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: evidence that board games are still being widely played and 16 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:49,480 Speaker 1: that there's market for a new one? 17 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 2: Yes, there definitely is. So. Actually, I was at the 18 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 2: biggest board game conference in the world, which was in 19 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 2: Germany last year Spielhessen or but two hundred and twenty 20 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 2: thousand people were there attending, and we were just exhibiting 21 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 2: and testing our filmmaster and there was a lady there 22 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 2: from Germany who passed by looked at the game, played 23 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 2: the game for like twenty minutes, and she bought the 24 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 2: game on the spot. And I wasn't there to sell 25 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 2: the game, but I was just stage just to see 26 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 2: what the international appeal will be like for the game, 27 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 2: and that was one of the triggers to say, wait, 28 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 2: there's a market for the game. People actually enjoyed this 29 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 2: game and seeing what it's supposed to do. 30 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,040 Speaker 1: What was the trigger for the kind of game that 31 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: you developed for what has become find Master. 32 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:29,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a personal experience by both me and 33 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 2: my co founder. So we both grew up in homes 34 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 2: where money wasn't a frequent conversation. I, for one, only 35 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 2: heard the word investing because I was applying for a 36 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 2: scholarship by an investment company, and that took me into 37 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 2: rabbit hole to understand what investing is about. I got 38 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 2: into university and realized that even within my friendship circles, 39 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 2: they also didn't understand this investing thing, and that led 40 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 2: me to start an investment stock fall in my university residence. 41 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 2: A year later, everyone came back and said, oh, Elijah, 42 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 2: thank you so much for starting that. It it wasn't 43 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 2: for this club. There's noise. I would have started investing 44 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 2: so early, and so finance education became a passion. Me 45 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 2: and my co founder met a couple of years later 46 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 2: and started a company to try and solve the financial 47 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 2: education problem. Throughout different iterations of trying to find different products, 48 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 2: we stumbled on the board game due to a mentor saying, hey, guys, 49 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 2: come to a market, dare at my kid's school and 50 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 2: come and speak to pen And one of the solutions 51 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 2: that we had on the on the on the in 52 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 2: the horizon was a board game. So in three days 53 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 2: we designed the first version of the board game, and 54 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 2: that's how we got to the point where we are 55 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 2: now to really just go out and say, this is 56 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 2: a board game that we want to bring to the market. 57 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: And it's cool that it is a game that has 58 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: an educational purpose, but if it's not fun to play, 59 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: then that educational purpose isn't going to be transferred because 60 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: people simply won't play it. And I haven't had a 61 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: chance to play it yet, but looking through the rules 62 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: and getting a sense of how it's played, I can 63 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: imagine that it can be quite a lot of cutthroat 64 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,799 Speaker 1: fun and it's never going to go on as long 65 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: as Monopoly some tous did go on. 66 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 2: That's exactly like early on we learned and that was 67 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 2: really one of our core pillars from the design perspective 68 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 2: is to make the game fun beyond it just being 69 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 2: a learning game. I mean, as you said, if something's 70 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 2: not fun, we're not going to come back. And that's 71 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 2: one of the biggest things around learning games or educational 72 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:16,079 Speaker 2: games is most people overemphasize the learning element, and if 73 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 2: I've learned something, I'm not coming back to the game 74 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 2: because I've already done what the game wanted me to do. 75 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 2: We want the game. Our game is fun. So you're 76 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 2: playing the game because it's fun, and along the way 77 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 2: you're realizing, oh wait, I need to versify you in 78 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 2: the game. I should probably do that in the real world. 79 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 2: Oh look, I bought a tax re savings and it 80 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 2: did well in the game. I should probably go start 81 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 2: an investment account, you know. So it's really around just 82 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 2: like you're doing the stuff in the game, and through 83 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 2: that you realize that you can actually do them in 84 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 2: the real world and go out. And one of our 85 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 2: biggest kbis when we're doing the different iterations when we're 86 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 2: designing the game, was how fun is the game out 87 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 2: of five and we currently have a four out of 88 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 2: four point four out of five fund rating from all 89 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 2: the different people who've played and tested the game. 90 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: And it looks like a pretty serious investment, Elijah. I 91 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: mean the box, the design of the box, the design 92 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: of the rules, the board, the die, the dice, the cards, 93 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: everything about it says this is not being done on 94 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 1: the cheap, and I suppose one of the big difficulties 95 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: was finding somebody to agree with the vision and give 96 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: you some money to put it all together. 97 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's it. I mean, that's also a very intentional design. 98 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 2: We want to we call ourselves that we design and 99 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 2: say we want to be the Apple of board games. 100 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 2: So we really want to make the games really just 101 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 2: feel nice, feel nice, and make you enjoy what you're 102 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,479 Speaker 2: doing as you're playing the game. And we were able 103 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 2: to raise some funding from e Squid investments, but before 104 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 2: that put a lot of drants and bootstrapped as well. 105 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: And there is a launch tonight at Exclusive Books down 106 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:48,599 Speaker 1: at the VNA Waterfront starting at five o'clock and going 107 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: on for a couple of hours, and there'll be live 108 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: demonstrations and you and your co founder will be talking 109 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: about it and telling some stories about how people playing 110 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: the game are already changing fines, financial behavior in their 111 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:03,919 Speaker 1: households and so on. And I presume it's going to 112 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: be well. I hope it's going to be relatively widely distributed, 113 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,839 Speaker 1: so people will have easy access to it. 114 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 2: Yes, that's correct. So the game will be available in 115 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 2: all forty five stores of Exclusive Books so around the country, 116 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:18,600 Speaker 2: so anyone can be able to buy it. You can 117 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:20,839 Speaker 2: also buy it online and that can be delivered to you, 118 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 2: so highly accessible from wherever you are in the country, 119 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 2: but also wherever you're in the world. The last month 120 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 2: we lifted in our first first store in America, one 121 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 2: of the largest board game stores in the East Coast 122 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,480 Speaker 2: as well, so slowly expanding internationally as well. 123 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: Okay, and then last question I'll have time to put 124 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 1: is the money the f I N T R S finters. 125 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: I don't know how you'd pronounce it. Where did that 126 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:45,920 Speaker 1: name come from? 127 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 2: So that's from the parent companies. So our company is 128 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 2: called finter and, which is a play on financially fitter, 129 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 2: financially better. And the idea is that we wanted to 130 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 2: create an in game currency, so that again the game 131 00:05:57,160 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 2: becomes global where you don't have to it not only 132 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,720 Speaker 2: it's a bit of specific currency, so you can just 133 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 2: use the game in any specific fitting or country. So 134 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 2: it's an in game currency that we designed or created. 135 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: Look, it's an incredible achievement to have put this together 136 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: and it's got a wonderful purpose and it really does 137 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,719 Speaker 1: look like fun. So congratulations to everybody who was involved 138 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: in this, and I wish you the best possible success 139 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: with it. 140 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 2: Thanks so much, John, I appreciate it. 141 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:26,720 Speaker 1: Elijah Chan, co founder, creator of finn Master. Widely available 142 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: and haven't had a chance to play it yet, but 143 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 1: it looks like a lot of fun.