Ramadan Kareem. It was around
last year this time that I
flew to NY to do the interview
for Bridges TV. I had invented
a game called Mecca to Medina
which was featured at ISNA
Chicago and the CEO of Bridges
TV invited me to do a 30
minute show on the game (so I
did). At the station, I got a
chance to talk to the staff,
check
more

Ramadan Kareem. It was around
last year this time that I
flew to NY to do the interview
for Bridges TV. I had invented
a game called Mecca to Medina
which was featured at ISNA
Chicago and the CEO of Bridges
TV invited me to do a 30
minute show on the game (so I
did). At the station, I got a
chance to talk to the staff,
check out the equipment, and
got a pretty good idea of what
was involved with putting a
show together. So when I got
back to Los Angeles, I made a
phone call to Thinking Brother
and pitch the idea of starting
Ummah Films. Thinking Brother
comes from a journalist
background and had written
screenplays and quickly fell
in love with the idea behind
Ummah Films. The rest is
history. As far as the Mecca
to Medina game, the game has
been selling really well
Alhamdulillah. Amazing enough,
I have many non-Muslim
customers buying this Islamic
game and it has been actually
reviewed by the gaming
community. Unlike other
Islamic games, Mecca to Medina
doesn't require previous
Islamic knowledge to play it.
It is more of a strategy game
that has an Islamic theme to
it, so it allows anyone to
play it. About two years ago,
a brother who was visiting one
of my neighbors knocked on my
door and asked if I had any
board games. I told him I
wasn't sure (since I didn't
really play board games) and
after doing some searching, I
found a Monopoly board (which
I wasn't even sure if it was
mine since it looked brand
new). He told me he wasn't
interested and was hoping for
something different. Right
now, I had an idea to make a
Muslim Board game, much
different than any Islamic
game out there. It took
hundreds of hours of planning,
designing, playtesting, and
working with mechanics.
Eventually the game, Mecca to
Medina, was invented and the
only thing left was to take it
to random people and see what
they think of it. I had a
bunch of people in their 20's
play the game first and they
loved it. Soon I was trying
to get as much random people
as possible to try it : young
kids, teenagers, adults,
etc...I had a all-sister game,
a game with just fathers, and
all the feedback was REALLY
positive. Actually, it came
back too positive so I was
worried thought that maybe
people were just being nice to
me. So I decided to take it to
the Masjid where I had some
brothers which I just met for
the first time to play it. I
didn't mention that I invented
the game so they assumed it
was something I bought.
Anyways, the loved the game
and two of them asked where I
bought it from so they could
buy it too. That was the
spark! Soon after, the game
was being mass produced in
China. Alhamdulillah, nearly
1200 games have been sold
since the game debut last
April (amazing Alhamdulillah)
and it has been featured in
the media, on the radio, and
in other publications
magazine. Mecca to Medina
isn't your typical trivia
pursuit question/answer
Islamic game but rather it is
very different than any
Islamic game in the market.
It game deals with collecting
resources, trading, events,
and of course negotiating. The
game is very interactive and I
think that one of the reasons
that its such a hit. At the
conferences, I found families
and friends really getting
into. At one conference, we
ran out of tables in our booth
so we had to make table out of
boxes. At one point, we had
around 20 people playing in
different games at the same
time, some people were even
sitting on the floor. I would
stand in front of my booth and
when people would walk by, I
would ask them 'When was the
last time you saw this many
people playing an Islamic
game?' They would usually
respond with a smile and
'Never'. That would open the
door for me to explain the
details of the game.
Alhamdulillah, in its first
six months, the game became
the #1 Muslim game on the
market.For the one year
anniversary, I want to give
the Ummah Films crowd a
special deal on the game.
You can get Mecca to Medina,
which currently retail for $25
on the website, for only $20
and you will also receive two
free glow in the dark MUSLIM
wristbands at no additional
charge. The deal ends when
Ramadan ends InshAllah. It
will make a great eid gift and
honesty, it's really a fun
game to play. You can read
the reviews on
www.muslimgames.com and all
the major Islamic stores carry
the game as well. To get the
special, goto the Ummah Films
Blog (Ummah Films Dot
Com)(Please note the deal ends
when Ramadan ends and I'm
giving the special price for
the Ummah Films audience so
the only way to get this offer
is by going to the Ummah Films
blog (Ummah Films Dot Com)More
information about the game can
be found on
www.muslimgames.com

Category News & Politics

Tags films, muslim, interview, games, to, medina, Ummah, Mecca