Playing it forward

by ERIK LEIJON

Is man inherently good or evil? Montreal’s Akoha is banking on the former with their soon-to-be released online social networking game, and they hope to be the catalyst that nudges the apathetic masses into performing acts of kindness by doling out gaming-style rewards.

Akoha—based on the Maori term for “paying it forward”—could be considered a massively-multiplayer online game (MMO) meets Facebook for would-be philanthropists. Akoha members will have the opportunity to pick from a growing list of positive missions, from smiling at a stranger to hosting a dinner party, and then receive karma points and in-game collectibles for completing their tasks. It follows a recent surge of do-gooders in online community, such as Twestivals and micro-financing site Kiva, but Akoha hopes to streamline the process by being devoted entirely to charitable acts.

“One of the things we looked at was the ability of everyday people to make big changes if you gather them together,” says co-creator Austin Hill. “Something like Wikipedia, the idea that anyone can make small changes simply because it’s so open, and now we’ve amassed a living body of knowledge that has no comparison.”

He also cites the snowballing effect of YouTube memes such as the Diet Coke and Mentos science experiments as an example of the “monkey see-monkey do” aspect of social media. With Akoha, he and his team of seven aim to make being nice the next great infectious Internet phenomenon to the point where, over time, you’ll approach each day with the idea of completing a mission or two. The online beta has been out since last year, and at first used mission cards that users were supposed to trade amongst each other. “It was a fun way of getting players to meet each other face-to-face, because we wanted people to connect with each other in the real world too,” Hill says.

There are simplistic missions such as walking to work or buying organic food, but the beta playing community has already come up with their own, such as joining a bone marrow donation list or making a homemade piece of clothing for someone. Completing a mission will be reflected in each player’s user profile, and leaderboards will show who has been the best Samaritan. Akoha is based on an honour system, although users have posted videos showing off their accomplishments on the site.

Hill says the Akoha team has been experimenting with a lot of potential ideas, and in March they’ll release their first official version. Their beta has already attracted around 7,000 testers from 65 countries, and all the promotion up until this point has been through word-of-mouth. The team is also working on ways for Akoha users to work together outside of the game’s framework. “Maybe you’re in a new neighbourhood,” Hill says. “So you can check your iPhone and find out what Akoha users are doing nearby.

“We hope people will be inspired by being around likeminded people. We hope Akoha will be a place to instigate, celebrate and share everyday acts we don’t usually celebrate.”

Locomotive Link

Based heavily on 2007’s The Phantom Hourglass, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS/Nintendo, EAD) is another quality Legend of Zelda title for the Nintendo DS. While Phantom Hourglass saw Link travelling around in a cute tugboat, Spirit Tracks finds Link donning a conductor’s cap and riding the rails in a locomotive.

The dungeon-crawling aspects of the game are still pure Zelda, which is a good thing. The train travelling missions can become trying over time, since it takes away the explorative aspects of the series.