Mecca to Medina in Mexico!

Mecca to Medina in Mexico!

I have no idea where on the map this is, but I do know that the Mecca to Medina game was played on a fishing boat somewhere in the Pacific Ocean off of the Mexican Coastline! I guess we will label this picture "Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean near Mexico!"

Mecca to Medina in Washington, D.C.!

Mecca to Medina in Washington, D.C.!

Mecca to Medina in Pittsburgh, PA!

Mecca to Medina in Pittsburgh, PY!

Mecca to Medina in Orchard Park, NY!

Mecca to Medina in Ochard Park, NY!

So far three of our biggest vendors have sold out of the Mecca to Medina games and areplacing another order. Keep in mind that our games have only been on sale for about four months ago now. Alhamdulillah! The success of Muslim Games is ONLY because of Allah (swt).

Mecca to Medina in Fresno, CA!

Mecca to Medina in Fresno, CA!

Fresno is a small city in the middle of California. Its surrounded by farm land and has two Masajids and one Islamic school. Since the city is so small, there is only one store in the entire city that sells Halal meat, Jerusalem Market. The same store also carries the Mecca to Medina game.

The gaming audience caught me by surprise

When I first starting working on Mecca to Medina, I envisioned that the game would be played by high school / college players. I would say that about 90% of all the people who play tested the game and enjoyed it were between the ages 18 to 33. Actually, most of the people we play with are in the twenties. So when Mecca to Medina was introduced for the first time at a local conference, we were shocked that the majority of our audience were between the ages of 8 to 15! Although the game can be played by the younger audience, I never thought that so many younger kids would like the game so much.

I have learned that the younger players simplify the game themselves and don't use much strategy while the older players (18 & above) play with all the options (specialty cards, max card limit, etc…).

When was the last time you saw this many people playing an Islamic Game?

Whenever the game is shown at a confernce, its amazing how much attention its gets from the older Muslims. When they walk down the aisles of the conference, they suddenly pause at the Muslim Games booth, wondering what is going on. Imagine seeing 19 people from different ages playing the same game. You have two tables with Muslim kids with their ages ranging from 7 to 15, another sister's table with just Muslim girls, and a final table with High School/College Muslims all playing the same Mecca to Medina game! Sometimes we have to make tables using cardboard boxes, drapes from our curtains, and even borrowed chairs from the area next door. At one point, we had people playing on it the floor! It gets crazy!

The question I often ask the people who have stopped in their tracks and are looking at our booth is, "When was the last time you saw so many people playing an Islamic game?". They often reply with a smile and the word "Never". I then tell them that this is my live commerical that runs all day at the conference and that these people are real and not actors. They often laugh. Finally, I ofer to show them how the Mecca to Medina game works and then recommend that they ask the variety of different people who are playing the game what think of it.

Non-Muslims playing Mecca to Medina

Something that is amazing to me is that almost 1/2 of the games ordered on the www.muslimgames.com website are by non-Muslims!

One of the features of Mecca to Medina, which makes it stand out from all other Islamic games in the market, is that it can be played by both Muslim and non-Muslims because it doesn't require previous Islamic knowledge. In the picture above, the players playing the Mecca to Medina game, are all non-Muslims. Two of them are frequent board game players ("gamers") and one of them has over 300 board games. They were kind of enough to let me record them playing a game for the Mecca to Medina promo. At one point, they really got into the game, which is so cool.

Anytime I see people enjoying the game, its awesome!

Muslim Games around the world!

With over 800 Mecca to Medina games in distribution, I often wonder which cities this unique Muslim game has reached. Since, Mecca to Medina is a game about building trading routes between cities, I thought it would be cool to start collecting pictures of people in their cities with the Mecca to Medina game.

If you like Mecca to Medina, send me a picture of you holding or playing the game and I'll post it. Standing next to something that shows which city you are in, like a city sign or landmark, would be ideal but its not necessary.

Bridges TV

"Assalammu' Alaikum! This is Baba Ali from Los Angeles and your watching Bridges TV!" (smiling)

I just got back from New York after filming a 1/2 show about the Mecca to Medina game. I didn't have anything verbally prepared so I wasn't sure how it was all going to come out. I figured "being natural" would be the best way to go and Alhamdulillah it worked out. The host and I were put into a dark studio, where they had three cameras and two very bright heat lamps. Initially, I was concerned about "not looking into the camera" but with those heat lamps in my face, it was hard to even see the camera. Actually, it got so hot, I felt like french fry at McDonalds under one those red lights they use to keep the food warm.

Everyone from Bridges TV was super cool. They have a very nice staff and I was treated very well there. The show, called The Beat, went smoothly and InshAllah it will air during the month of Ramadan.

Playtesting

The best part of making a game is watching people enjoy playing it. During the playtesting stage, I had numerous people play the game. I had brothers, neighbors, and non-Muslims try the game. I even had sisters play a “girls only” game so I would have the feedback from the "female's perspective". Actually, the feedback from all the playtesters was so positive that I thought people were just trying to be nice. So I took the game to the Masjid and had 3 brothers, who I didn't know, play the game. We took a break to pray and then we continued the game. Once the game was finished, two of them asked me where I bought the game so they could purchase their own copy. They were surprised when I told them that I made the game. Quick Note: We are often told that “you can’t do that” because of our age. If you put in the effort and you make du’ah to Allah (swt), you would be surprised on how many doors of opportunity are out there. I never made games before and all of this is very new to me. Of course, I had to do research and put in hundreds of hours of work but the end result was worth it. The ages of the brothers I played with varied. Two of brothers looked like there were in the first year of college, another player was about 15 years old, and the youngest player was about 9. Anyways, that game was the straw the broke the camel's back. Soon after, I contacted China to have the game mass produced.

Alhamdulillah, it has been selling well. Most of our vendors are still sold out so I'm trying to contact them to make sure they are stocked up for Eid. Tonight, I'm flying to New York. I'm going to be a guest on the new show, The Beat, on the Bridges channel. I'm excited, not because of being on TV (don’t’ really care about that) but more importantly another door has been opened to market the game to a new audience. I haven’t really prepared what to say other than scenario questions that I have thought about in my head. I think the best way to do this is to be natural. Then again, this is my first time doing something like this so it’s all a learning experience.

My first blog

Alhamdulillah. My first blog.

On April 25th, I received my shipment of Mecca to Medina games from China. Three days later, I started selling them. Five months later, over 700 games have been sold and most of the vendors carrying the game are sold out. Alhamdulillah, the success is ONLY because of Allah (swt).

So how Muslim Games start? Well, in the winter of 2004, some brothers were visiting my Muslim neighbor and one of them knocked on my door and asked me if I had any board games. Since I really didn't play board games, I wasn't sure. After a few minutes of searching through my closet, I found an almost brand-new box of Monopoly, which the brother showed no interest in. He said "Thanks, but I was looking for something 'different'". After I closed the door, I told myself it would be cool if there was a Muslim themed game. Unfortunately, most of the "Muslim Games" out there were not very popular because they weren't much fun. I wanted to make a game that was easy to learn, simple to setup, and very interactive. At the same time, I wanted to be fun enough that even families can get together and enjoy. Thus, I invented a game called Mecca to Medina.

Mecca to Medina is a first Muslim production game, where each player starts off with one of the 6 Islamic cities and tries to collect resources to complete trading route. You collect resources even when its not your turn and you also trade with the person who turn it is. Thus, the game is very interactive and its fun even when its not your turn. To the best of my knowledge, it is the first Muslim themed game that can be played by both Muslims and non-Muslims because no Islamic knowledge is required. The game teaches Islamic principles through a fun and interactive method. You can learn more about it at www.muslimgames.com

On Labor Day weekend, a few brothers and I went to ISNA (Chicago, IL) to promote the game. Alhamdulillah we got some media attention and I was invited to go on a new cable show called The Beat (on Bridges TV). I'm flying out to NY on Thursday InshAllah to film the 1/2 hour show. I'm excited and looking forward to promoting the game :)