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Vince Siu, Co-Founder of Press Start Hong Kong is on a personal crusade to bring imagination, creativity and inspiration through games into the sphere of education.
#impact Podcast Recording with Vince Siu, Press Start Hong Kong Co-Founder
In this episode you will learn:
- Why games are so important for discovering and understanding our world – no matter what age you are.
- About the pros and cons of being a first-time entrepreneur.
- How a beer brewing game can help you understand how to run a business.
Bringing back the joy of learning
Vince’s mission to change the mindset of teachers and parents to bring back the joy of learning through games to all generations alike is something that touched our heart and made your #impact Podcast host Regina Larko rediscover her inner child and revisit her passion for playing games, as this talk with Vince will attest.
Press Start Hong Kong Co-Founders Vince and Wes are on a mission to educate and innovate with games.
Growing up
Born and raised in Hong Kong of the 80ies Vince grew up playing and loving games, not the ones you play online today, but those physical board and card games that in days of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality might be considered by some as retro.
Look at that collection! Loads of games to try out in Press Start’s Studio.
Overcoming challenges and reservations with lots of passion
Vince is a first-time entrepreneur, and there are many challenges he faces when setting up his impactful business.
“The best part is that I can govern myself, but the worst part is that I need to govern myself.”
Although Vince’s job is all about games, he hardly has any more time to play them himself. Running and growing a business is hard work.
“Obviously there is stress, but it’s more positive stress.”
Vince introduces us to reservations he faces when he promotes his vision of a playful way to learn and understand our world. A Chinese saying goes “Play is not beneficial”, Vince shares, and playing is something that is often looked down upon, particularly when it comes to education.
Many pupils feel overwhelmed with the homework load and extracurricular activities that do not leave any time for playful exploration of the world. But this does not stop Vince, rather the opposite. There is a fire that lights up in his eyes when he shares his passion for games.
Press Start is organising communication workshops for NGOs, corporations and schools. These workshops can include learning how to play the card game Hanabi.
Play is an essential part of the human condition, says Press Start HK Co-Founder Vince Siu. Share on X
Playing games is refreshing and social. Hear which is Vince’s favourite game.
The power of shared experiences
In Hong Kong, Vince and his co-founder Wes Mui lower the barrier for entering the world of playing board games by running monthly socials at their cosy Press Start Studio in Central Hong Kong.
Having a collective social experience is at the heart of their social meetups as well as their team and community building workshops they run for corporates and NGOs.
Curious which game they were playing here? Check out Press Start’s Facebook Page to get updates on their next social gatherings in their cosy space in Hong Kong Central.
Press Start’s vision is to help their community understand and explore the world better through games and experiences.
Games are something so uniting that it should not have surprised us when Vince shared that board and card games are one of the most backed up projects on Kickstarter.
“A lot of people are looking for a respite from their digitally very saturated lives.”
Vince and Wes have already reached some of their goals. One of them was to partner up with schools and bring games into the classroom. But it does not end there. Press Start is eager to reach the next generation growing up, get them inspired and teach them about life with the help of games.
When it comes to the far vision, Vince looks beyond Hong Kong to bring their mission to schools all over the globe. This is just the start for Press Start Hong Kong.
Meet Vince and the Press Start Hong Kong team at the Startup Service Marketplace at the StartmeupHK Festival, which will be at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on February 1st, 2018. They will also be holding a workshop on gamification that day.
Scroll all the way up and press play to find out why Vince thinks having empathy is so important in today’s world and rediscover your inner child when you join us for a quick tutorial of Vince’s favourite card game.
Our learnings from this episode. Have something to add? Get in touch with us here!
Some ideas to make an #impACT
- Look up from your screen and instead get together with your friends or family for a game session. In an interview with Jumpstart Magazine, the co-founders or Press Start Hong Kong share “Everyone’s on their smartphones and devices all day every day these days – there’s something comforting and refreshing about putting down your phone and interacting with people through learning and playing a new board game”.
- If you are in Hong Kong, connect with the Press Start team on Facebook to join one of their next socials and try out Hanabi as well as many other games for yourself.
- Check out what projects are currently funded on the Kickstarter’s “games” section. You will be surprised.
- Think about the favourite game you played as a child and introduce it to someone else.
Did you know that #impact Podcast was listed as one of the Podcasts you need to know if you live in Hong Kong?
And we are in the best company. We want to give a huge shout out to all the other awesome homegrown productions, like Better in Bed, Hong Kong Writers Circle and this week especially to Hong Kong Confidential, run by the wonderful Jules Hannaford. Head over to Spotify and many other Podcast directories to start listening. We’re hooked already!
More inspiration ahead. Subscribe!
