Board game

A board game is a type of social game that is played by one or more people on a board, generally with tokens which represent each player and cards or dice for use in progressing around the board towards a goal. Board games form a popular and widespread genre of game; some well-known examples of board games include chess and checkers (in which two players maneuver for territorial advantage), Monopoly (in which multiple players compete to buy and develop land), Trivial Pursuit (in which players answer trivia questions), and Scrabble (in which letter tiles are combined to form words). Various Bahá’í-themed board games exist, some of which have been produced for wider distribution; this article lists some of these.

Gems of Virtue

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  Playing Gems of Virtue
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  Click for close-up

This is a game recently created by a Bahá’í in Missouri, U.S.A. It can involve any number of players. These players work on acquiring virtues. Two packs of cards are involved in the game, and plastic tokens. A more detailed description of the game can be found via the website listed at the end of this article.

Nunki

Main article: Nunki

The ancient Sumerians wrote of a time in the future - "Nunki" - when all mankind would unite. In this board game, players unite to try and create Nunki. Players represent peoples from different continents, and try to answer questions, which appear on cards in both German and English. The game originates in Germany, and is currently available. On the website for the game, there is a video showing how it is played.

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  Click for closer view
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  Click for close-up
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  The box lid

Spiritual Pursuit

Main article: Spiritual Pursuit

Spiritual Pursuit was developed over a long period in the 1980s and 1990s, in Warwickshire, England, as an attempt to get Bahá’ís engaging in activities involving increased awareness of the details of the Faith, and yet being fun. Any number of players can take part, as individuals or teams. Players/teams move around the board and are offered questions relating to the Bahá’í Faith. The first to complete a circuit of the board is the winner. The main learning takes place by listening to other people's answers, and to ensuing discussion. The first edition was sold out, and the game was reprinted in 2008. Well over 900 copies have been sold. This game is still available, although the current print run will probably be exhausted during 2017 or 2018. Storage of the games in damp conditions led to a number of the game boxes deteriorating in condition. A small number of games in good condition are available. Because of the great amount of work involved in producing and collating the games, it seems unlikely that there will another reprint.

In January, 2015 a new set of question cards, known as "Starter" cards, was produced. These are designed to enable children of perhaps six to twelve years to play the game by themselves. Two answers only are offered for each question, and it is frequently obvious which one is false. A simpler set of rules accompanies this set. These questions can also be used by children or Friends of the Faith during a full game.

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  Playing Spiritual Pursuit in Belize : Naw-Ruz 2013
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  Playing Spiritual Pursuit in England
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  Even the cat wants to join the fun
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  The board and playing pieces
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  Rings on the playing piece indicate points collected
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  The game being played in Hong Kong (click for close-up)

Bahá’í Challenge

This game was published by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, and consisted of an extensive set of cards, each of which carried 6 questions, in categories such as History and Administration. The cards were meant to be for any quiz-type activities, but conveniently could be used with a playing board from the game Trivial Pursuit, which was popular at the time of publication.

Unfortunately, their use was somewhat diminished by a severe error in the printing process by which a whole batch of the cards was incorrectly produced, with the wrong answers on the back. This rendered several hundred questions unusable, and severely dented people's enthusiasm for the game. Also, having so many hundreds of questions on categories such as Administration meant that many of the questions were somewhat specialised, so the game could be seen as more applicable to the more well-read sections of the community. This may also have reduced their usefulness in the teaching field.

Vyowa

Vyowa ("Vie Ye One With Another") was created in the 1970s in the English Midlands, at a time when building up Local Spiritual Assemblies was a chief activity among the Bahá’í community. Each player chooses a town, and works to build up a community of nine adults (represented by cards), to form that town's first Assembly. Teaching and deepening activities are held, new believers are attracted, but of course some of them pioneer abroad or simply move away - possibly to the town of another player! Many of the "squares" on the playing board represent the vicissitudes of life, much as in the game "Monopoly".

The game was to be properly manufactured, but the work was never completed. A few copies of the game were produced and sold, but the game was "of its time", as the current "core activities" did not exist in their present form.

External links

• Gems of Virtue http://www.bahairesources.com/gems-of-virtues-board-game.html
• manufacturers of Nunki
• Manufacturers of Spiritual Pursuit : http://www.warwickbahaibookshop.co.uk/
• Acquiring Spiritual Pursuit in North America [1]
• Acquiring Spiritual Pursuit in the rest of the world [2]