A new South African board game is aiming to make financial literacy more accessible, particularly for younger players.
FinMaster, launched on Friday, April 10 at Exclusive Books, V&A Waterfront, was developed by industrial engineers Elijah Dejan and Danei Rall, who set out to create a game that teaches the basics of money management practically and engagingly.
Designed for players aged 13 and older, the game introduces concepts such as saving, investing, and building wealth through a strategy-based format.
Players are required to respond to market changes, build diversified portfolios, and grow their net worth over time.
While often compared to Monopoly, the creators say FinMaster focuses more on real-world financial decision-making rather than property trading alone.
Additionally, the game has certain distinctively South African features, such as Cabinet Reshuffle cards and Load Shedding.
It all began as a basic sketch on a pizza box and evolved into a professional product, which later placed second in Norway's International Educational Games Competition last year.
The pair shared that the idea came from their experiences of needing to learn about money independently.
“I looked at how hard my mom was working and how tough she had it, and I just promised myself that I'd figure this thing out and I would teach myself how to plan for the future and how to be independent with money, said Ms Rall.
"From that age and through university, I actually started implementing basics like having an emergency fund in university and starting my investment accounts and things like that."
Touching on the impact of the game, Mr Dejan said they've noticed that people play the game and start to implement some of the practices.
“We've had a guy play the game on a Friday, go and start an investment account on a Monday. Parents have been telling us about how their kids are using the words they're learning in the game; they're speaking to them about money, and that's been really cool.
“My big passion for the next couple of decades is that I want kids to be playing the game, get to their 20s and say, ‘I played the purple game as a kid, and this is why I'm investing, or this is why my personal finances are so good,'" he said.
FinMaster is available at all Exclusive Books stores nationally. The game is also available online on Takealot and at select hobby board game and toy stores around South Africa.
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