Yesterday I met George Allen, inventor of a brand new board game set to take the world by storm! If you love travel and trivia, this one's for you!
When George Allen spotted flags of the world depicted around a Bureau de Change outlet some 5 or so years ago, the colourful designs of each flag inspired him to create a board game. It took the next 5 years, lots of hard work and collaboration, plenty of his own money and many moments of wanting to give up counteracted with enthusiastic encouragement from friends and strangers to reach the point he’s at today – ready to wow the world with his wonderful board game, FLAGGO.
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| George introducing his game |
George is a fascinating man – born of Jamaican parents in England, he has been a chef, is an artist, has travelled the world and successfully bought and sold real estate. He owns property in Fish Hoek, the West Indies and London.
George loves Cape Town, especially Fish Hoek, where we met him on Wednesday morning at his house on the mountainside overlooking the beautiful beach below. So he made sure South Africa’s flag had its place on his board. He spends 3 or more months of the year in this seaside town and swims early each morning with the locals. But his passion has become FLAGGO.
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| FLAGGO set out in George's SA home, with Fish Hoek beach beyond |
The official website describes FLAGGO as a game that allows you to
“Travel the world … experiencing cultures and surprises along the way - and beware the rapidly changing fortunes in your luck!
The game features over 2000 tantalising questions and over 150 picture cards. Subjects include geography, history, art, sport, architecture, fauna, flora, music, science, literature, modern times and more!”
When George explains how the multi-dimensional game is played, his eyes sparkle with enthusiasm. FLAGGO combines elements of Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly among others. The game is played by players rolling the dice and moving their little aeroplane tokens around the board, collecting a “Boarding Pass” when they pass “Take Off” which they can use to move forward or back a square. Although players need to answer general knowledge questions about different countries, animals and people as they move around the board, it is much more than a straightforward quiz. Elements of chance and strategy play a role depending on where you land, what cards you draw and when you decide to use them, how many points (given in silver and gold ‘coins’) you collect and ultimately who manages to collect the letters to spell out the word “FLAGGO” first. It may sound complicated but it actually is easy to pick up the rules and a whole lot of fun to play!
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| Where the game begins... |
FLAGGO can be played with between 2 and 6 players and is suitable for older children and adults, and you will learn a lot as you play! The questions were compiled by Oxford and Cambridge students together with many friends from varied backgrounds. He then travelled with his game, playing it with people wherever he went and fine-tuning it based on feedback he received along the way.
George will be presenting FLAGGO at Toy Fairs in
New York, London and Nuremberg over the coming few months. The game is available to
purchase online (currently not availble for shipping to South Africa but it will be soon)
The quality of the game board and pieces is excellent as it has been manufactured in conjunction with Hasbro.
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| George Allen - passionate! |
Watching George Allen talk animatedly about FLAGGO (and the next board game he’s already dreaming up) it’s clear to me that with a game this good and a man this passionate behind it, FLAGGO can only be a success – I have no doubt that it will become a world-renowned board game over the coming years.
