Nubian Jak
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| Players | 2–24 |
|---|---|
| Age range | 11+ |
| Setup time | 3 minutes |
| Playing time | Unlimited |
| Random chance | Medium (dice rolling) |
| Skill(s) required | Black History, General knowledge, Fashion, Pop culture |
This article is about the board game Nubian Jak. For information on its founder, see Jak Beula. For the Nubian Jak UK game show that ran from 2004 to 2005, see Who Knows Jak. For the organization that runs Britain only national BME plaque scheme, see Nubian Jak Community Trust.
Nubian Jak is a multi-award winning board game combining questions on historical facts with pop trivia, to highlight some of the achievements by people of colour globally.
The game requires players to use strategy and skill, with a bit of luck to "Out Jak" and "Chill Out" opponents, while trying to get their own pieces to separate Home Zone areas on the board. Movement is determined by rolling a dice and answering multiple-choice questions when required to do so.
Nubian Jak was created in 1994 by Jak Beula, a singer-songwriter and social worker with Islington Council. After working with some young people who seemed disaffected and marginalized by society, he decided to produce an "uplifting" board game which would look at positive role models of African heritage in Britain and Europe. He tried patenting the name "Union Black" but his application was denied due to there already being a game in existence which used the word "Union". Instead he combined the similar sounding words "Nubian" (meaning black) and "Jack" ("lift up" or "flag") to come up with the brand name "Nubian Jack". The use of the letter "C" in the word Jak was subsequently dropped.
On 16 November 1994, 1000 promotional copies of Nubian Jak European African-Centred Edition arrived at a small office in Clapham Junction, south London. A couple of weeks later the game was introduced to selected outlets in the capital, including Hamleys of London and Morleys Stores. This coincided with a Christmas marketing campaign by the radio station Choice FM London and The Voice. Within a few weeks the game was out of stock, outselling Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly combined, in Morleys of Brixton, Selbys of Holloway Road, and Smiths Bros in Tooting, all part of the Morleys Stores chain in London. A re-run was hastily produced and the game was officially launched at Kensington Olympia in January 1995 at the British Toy and Hobby Fair. It became one of the main focus for the British Toy and Hobby Fair that year, and was voted one of the top 10 games for 1995 by Games and Puzzles Magazine.
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