Towards Mecca » Akoha: The Card Game of Good Deeds.

I was reading Rayna’s blog the other day when she mentioned this new game Akoha. What can I say, the concept behind Akoha is quite brilliant! A card game that rewards people for doing good deeds in real life? That’s awesome on so many levels!I love card games and I always talk about doing good deeds so I feel almost as if the designers of this game had me in mind all along! Rayna just gave me my starter deck on Friday and I can’t wait to get started spreading good all other the world and tracking how far my good deeds go!

So how does it work?

The concept is quite simple. Several decks of cards are given to people around the world (I think this was started in Montreal). Each card has a “mission” on it that needs to be accomplished. Some of my missions included regular tasks such as “Invite Someone for Coffee”, “Give Someone a Book”, and “Give Someone Chocolate” and some more imaginative ones such as “Give a Compact Fluorescent Bulb”, and my personal favorite “Read a Blogger, Feed a Blogger”.

Players then head over to akoha.com and create a profile. This profile allows them to track the progress of the cards to see when and where their good deed has struck. Take ”Give a Compact Fluorescent Bulb” as an example. If I buy my sister such a bulb when she visits from Quebec city, I would give her the card as well. It’s then up to her to go to akoha.com and punch in the card’s mission code and give more information about the deed if she wishes. Once she does this, the mission is confirmed and she is free to give a bulb and the card to someone else. If she does, I can then easily track the deed and see how many people have been touched by it!

If you’ve seen the movie Pay it Forward then you’ve already had a taste of Akoha. The first impulse I had after I got my starter deck was to go out and do good! If this was the intention of the designers then they have succeeded! I’m glad to be among the first to play Akoha and I wish the project success. I can’t wait to give my first card!