The Middle Path Board Game

Have a good laugh, break barriers and unite the Ummah!

The Muslim struggle is real – from Islamophobia and sectarian friction, to gendered and racial issues, it can sometimes feel like the world is against us (or we’re against ourselves?).

How do we address these problems? Through humor, of course.

This strategy-based game is designed to address real issues facing Muslims, kick-start conversations around them and make you laugh.

And laugh you will! We’ve teamed up with the (insanely) talented artist, Asma, better known as @Mvzlamic, to ensure that each card is both a standalone artistic masterpiece and a hilarious comic.

How does the game work?

The aim of the game is to get to the Middle Path.

Sounds simple, right? Nope! It isn’t so straight forward. Here’s why:

• At the beginning of each game, players are assigned a persona/player piece, which determines where you start on the board.
• Each player takes turns playing/drawing cards. Cards that are played go into the Discard Pile.
• There are 3 main types of Cards: Attack, Defend and Good Deed / Blessings (there’s a few other card types as well, like the “No you” card, each with unique abilities).
• Attack cards are essentially ‘situations’ that you or your opponents are put in, thus ‘provoking’ them.
• Reaction to that situation (whether or not the person being attacked has the right Defend Card) determines their fate. If they have the correct Defend Card, they will be able to fend off an attack (by making Sabr, giving a level-headed response, etc). If they don’t have the right Defend Card, they become ‘enraged’ or ‘abusive’, thus pushing them away from the Middle Path.
• Good Deed / Blessing Cards take you closer to the Middle Path.
• There is another way to win: radicalize or liberalize ALL your opponents to turn them into extremists, thereby eliminating them from the board. You will win the game but you won’t be very popular with the kids.

That’s it! This game is designed to last around 15 minutes, similar in length to most party games.

This game was successfully crowdfunded on Launchgood