The MediuM: The home version of McLuhan's maelstrom

Marshall McLuhan’s tetrad of media effects now has its own board game. Designed by Paolo Granata and his students at the University of Toronto, The MediuM gamifies McLuhan’s “laws of media.” From the promotional website:

The Medium is played in teams of two or more players. With each round, one player, the Messenger, takes a card from the pile and tries to get teammates to guess what medium is on the card by giving them cues based on the Mcluhans’ Laws of Media. Teams move along the board when a medium is guessed correctly, pulling themselves out of the Maelstrom.

For a closer look at the actual game materials, Professor Granata has posted an unboxing video on YouTube.

I must admit that I am once again envious of Dr. Granata’s ability to conjure McLuhan-inspired swag. In the unboxing video he is decked out with The Medium branded threads including a t-shirt and cap (some promotional merch is also available for purchase on the game’s website). At the Toronto School: Then, Now, Next conference a few years ago I was enamored with the “I am a Cool Medium” shirts that Paolo had made up for the event team. I fear I may have made a bad impression by hounding Paolo over the possibility of getting a shirt for myself.

I’ve already ordered a copy of the game and I look forward to perhaps incorporating it as a classroom activity in one of my media courses. I can only hope that The MediuM includes itself in its deck of game cards.