“Mecca To Medina” Opening Gameplayers’ Eyes to Islamic and Muslim Traditions
A new card/dice game bridges the cultural divide between the Eastern and Western worlds.
Sherman Oaks, CA (PRWEB via PR Web
Direct) April 11, 2005 -- Muslim Games today announced the worldwide debut
of a new card/dice game called “Mecca to Medina.” A fast-paced game that blends
the strategy of card play with the luck of the dice, “Mecca to Medina” appeals
to a global audience.
The first company solely devoted to manufacturing
games for Muslims, Muslim Games strives to bridge the cross-cultural gap that
currently exists in the United States. By promoting understanding between
Eastern and Western cultures, “Mecca to Medina” brings diverse people together
in a fun environment. The game is designed for players ages eight and up, Muslim
and non-Muslim alike.
An August 20, 2004 article at IslamOnline revealed
that in the wake of 9/11, the percentage of Americans who are unsympathetic
toward Islam has reached 38% of the population. At the same time, the percentage
of Americans who wish to know more about Muslims and Arabs is about two thirds
of the U.S. population. Both misunderstanding and curiosity over Muslims
abound.
By introducing non-Muslims to such concepts as The Five Pillars
of Islam, “Mecca to Medina” sates this curiosity and simultaneously clears up
some of the misconception.
Pitting player against player, the goal of
“Mecca to Medina” is to complete a series of Trading Routes faster than one’s
opponents by collecting the required symbolic resources. Combining geography and
world culture into its game play, “Mecca to Medina” is as educational as it is
entertaining. Unlike other board games, action lurks around every corner of
“Mecca to Medina,” with every roll of the dice spurring activity, even when it’s
not a player’s turn.
With only a prototype in hand, both Muslims and
non-Muslims are already praising “Mecca to Medina” for its ingenuity. Ed West, a
non-Muslim and thirty-year veteran of board games, gives the game high marks for
its unpredictability: “No matter what plans you have, there are random events
and other player actions that can mess up what you wanted to do. I like that. It
keeps the game fresh every time you play.”
Ushruf Abouelnasr, a Muslim
who typically favors video games over board games, admits about himself and his
friends: “We have been hooked! I love both the suspense and the negotiating
aspect of the game.”
An American Religious Identity Survey (ARIS)
conducted in 2001 conservatively estimated that there were 1.1 million adult
Muslims in the U.S., making Islam the nation’s third most prevalent religion.
Current mainstream media estimates that number to be five to seven times higher.
No matter the actual figure, the need for entertainment that caters to the
growing Muslim American population obviously exists. Muslim Games aims to fill
that gaping marketing void with “a game for every Muslim.”
For more
information on Muslim Games’ “Mecca to Medina” rules of play, visit the
company’s Website at http://www.muslimgames.com/. To learn how to purchase a copy
of the game, contact Baba Ali at (818) 648-6891 or email Muslim Games at e-mail
protected from spam bots.
Contact:
Baba
Ali
818-648-6891
4441 Woodman Ave. Suite #103
Sherman Oaks, CA
91423
http://www.muslimgames.com/
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb227620.htm