This is the room where the story of El-Mishkak started. It was back in 1989 at Basingstoke, England.

A pre-production run of 100 units was made in 1990.  It represents the "De-luxe" version of El-Mishkak. Three capitals were used between 1990 and 1995 for test-marketing the game, namely London , Algiers and Damascus.

This is the "Popular" version of El-Mishkak. It was produced and marketed in Algeria in 1999. The two versions seem quite different, but the rules are fundamentally the same, except the way points are scored. This version has also an important addition, namely the special dictionary which is not only useful in settling arguments between players, but it contains some very important data about the language as well.

RULES IN ARABIC

The El-Mishkak word-game is based on the three-consonant root system peculiar to semitic languages. That is why it can only be played in Arabic and Hebrew. The game is a concrete proof that Arabic is a very structured language, and anyone who loves logic would find it quite interesting! 

It is especially useful as a teaching-aid in schools.

EXAMPLE

The story of El-Mishkak is very similar to that of Scrabble, not only in the way it was produced but also in the way it is marketed.

Since it is intended for all age groups (except babies!), I would be happy to hear from anybody who cares about Arabic language in order to promote this entertaining and educational tool throughout the whole world.

E-mail: bouhadjera@mail.univ-jijel.dz

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