A MORAY business student has knocked her opponents back to square one by devising a board game billed the “ultimate battle of the sexes”.
Hollie Stewart’s HNC business course at Stevenson College in Edinburgh challenged her to come up with an idea for a game which could one day become as big a success as Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit.
So 20-year-old Hollie, from Burghead, dreamed up “Fasculinity” – a play on masculine and feminine – which tasks players to move round a board asking male and female related questions in a bid to become truly “fasculine”.
And after entering her creation into a Dragons’ Den-style competition, the former Lossie High head girl has won a dream trip to Dubai to pitch her idea to potential investors.
“I had to make a game and then say how I would market it and make it a success,” Hollie said. “I then created a presentation which was delivered to three entrepreneurs and was selected to go to Dubai.
“It’s really exciting – a fantastic opportunity – and I’m confident that my game can be a big hit.”
Next week Hollie and three other students will jet out to the United Arab Emirates for a five-day trip, during which they will present their ideas to an audience of 50 business people.
She will be aiming to impress investors, either by persuading them to buy into her board game idea or to see her potential as an employee.
“Whatever happens the whole thing will give us confidence in our own business knowledge,” said Hollie.
“Even if I’m not successful in Dubai, I plan to bring the game back to the UK and try to market it here.”
Hollie came up with the catchline “A New Night Out Is A Night In” for her game.
Its concept involves female players moving forward on the board if they answer a female-related question correctly, with the alternative of a backwards move if they get it wrong.
The opposite applies to male players taking up the challenge.
“The colour of the square you land on determines what card you pick up, with pink for female and blue for male,” Hollie revealed.
“The idea being, the better you answer the opposite sex’s question, the faster you succeed.” With chance cards and a winner’s circle also incorporated into the game, Hollie has introduced aspects of well-known board games to a modern and topical subject.
“My idea is an exciting twist on your typical question-and-answer board game, and works on the idea that here in Scotland we all love battle of the sexes,” she said.
“Furthermore, it gives friends and family the chance to get together and play an exciting and enjoyable game.
“My unique selling point is that my customers would buy the game with a set of the standard cards, then they can buy different sets such as History, Hollywood, Sport and more, thus widening my target audience.”
Hollie has been given a lot of business support from her stepdfather Allan Howie, who runs a fleet management firm in Elgin.
