Inspired by the famous television show Fort Boyard, the Fort Game has become a reality in Mauritius. Organized by a team of young people from the Grand Port Regional Youth Council and the Grand Sable & Petit Sable Village Council, the game was held on Sunday, May 19 at Pointe du Diable. It was the Fighters de Petit Bel Air team which won this first edition.
The game was orchestrated by Arvind Khelawon, member of the Grand Port Regional Youth Council, Avi Ramful, former president of the same council, and Loko Ramful, member of the Grand Sable & Petit Sable Village Council.
The event brought together 32 teams from across the island, each made up of three boys and three girls aged 18 to 35. The main objectives of the Fort Games were to strengthen youth empowerment and promote team spirit among the participants.
The first round included six workshops, each led by a Game Master, with challenges such as Weights, Block, Awale, Burning Leaf, Sticks, and Aquarium. In the event of a tie, the game Rock, Paper, Scissors was used to decide between the teams. Each team captain strategically chose members for each game. This elimination round involved 16 matches.
The second round saw the remaining 16 teams compete in four games: Lifting Battle (15 empty gas canisters were placed in the center, and the two opponents had to carry them one by one to designated locations), Stacking, Archery, Restaurant Willy (first to finish eating three corn puddings), and Rock-Paper-Scissors in case of a tie.
The eight selected teams advanced to the third round, where they were grouped into two pools (A and B) consisting of a questionnaire, Father Fouras puzzles, a Tug of War and a Pipeline Challenge, in order to collect as many clues as possible for the treasure hunt leading to the finale.
The final challenge involved a cage containing Rs 10,000 in coins. The two finalist teams had two minutes to collect as many coins as possible and place them in a bucket. The team with the heaviest bucket won the entire cash prize. The victorious team of the first edition was the Fighters de Petit Bel Air, led by Steeven Chuckravanen, while the finalist team was the Sparta team from Camp Caval, led by Anne Lise Lavigilante.
