RSSSeptember 10, 2008, 3:00 PM
Akoha Unveils New Social Reality Game At TechCrunch 50
Private beta asks: "What if playing a game could make the world a better
place ?
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ - TechCrunch 50 Conference - Akoha, a developer of real-world social games, launched a private beta of a new social reality game at the TechCrunch 50 conference in San Francisco today. Using mobile, web and real-world missions to create a new form of game play, Akoha answers the question: "What if playing a game could make the world a better place?"
Inspired by elements of social entrepreneurship, massively multiplayer and reality-based games, Akoha is a real world and virtual game in which players carry out missions that involve performing small acts of kindness for others. The activities of Akoha players are described on "mission cards" that involve real world and virtual challenges. As Akoha players perform more missions, they advance in the game, recruit new players and spread good deeds across the planet. Akoha mission cards include activities such as "Donate an Hour of Your Time," "Give Someone a Book" and "Send Drinks to a Couple in Love."
"As one of the first casual reality-based games with the goal of creating real-world meaning, Akoha is a new kind of game where the community's play can bring people together, create novel experiences in players' lives, and allow the community as a whole, through their play, to help make the world a better place," said Austin Hill, co-founder and CEO of Akoha.
In contrast to increasingly rich virtual worlds and massively multiplayer games, Akoha takes place in the real world, turning everyday life into the ultimate playground. Akoha game play is simple and leverages offline activity as well as cell phones, maps, barcodes and social websites, so that every public place becomes part of Akoha's game play.
Each Akoha mission card has a unique code enabling people who receive a card to register at the Akoha web site or via a mobile device, join the game, and obtain their own deck of mission cards. These individuals then "play it forward" by performing the mission for another person. As more missions are carried out, players can track their missions across the globe, with each person's story of receiving and forwarding the mission documented at the website.
In addition to mission cards created by Akoha, players can also suggest mission cards for enhanced fun and more self-directed play. This allows players to gain additional rewards for their creativity and ability to spread Akoha. Once available commercially in 2009, player-initiated mission cards can be added to custom-designed mission decks. Mission cards can be earned or purchased through a combination of virtual and real currency.
Once released in 2009, Akoha will allow players to track their accomplishments, the movement of cards in play and all user-generated content like photos, videos and voice recordings, thus creating a highly interactive and immersive experience.
Onstage at TechCrunch 50 today, Akoha co-founder Austin Hill demonstrated:
- The exchange of mission cards with video image and location commentary, - The core exchange mechanics that allow missions to be passed from player to player, and - An iPhone application that reads two-dimensional barcodes from Akoha mission cards and enables geo-located play.
Akoha is inviting TechCrunch 50 attendees to participate in a private beta of its new concept in gaming. Attendees will each receive a deck of real-world mission cards in order to play the game and provide feedback that enables the continued development of Akoha in preparation for a 2009 public launch. Some of the features demonstrated today will only become available as playtesting continues.
Akoha also announced today that it is partnering with Room to Read in a community challenge to construct a library in Nepal. The goal is to ensure that Akoha game play during the private beta period will support educational opportunities for children and improve socioeconomic conditions in the developing world. In the future Akoha players will be able to link their game play to various charitable organizations of their choice. During the beta, the playtesting community will be able to participate in this community challenge so that their game play will create positive real-world change.
"As a fellow entrepreneur, I am thrilled that Room to Read is part of the Akoha launch," said Room to Read Founder and CEO John Wood. "The idea for Room to Read started a decade ago when a Nepali teacher said a few words that would forever change my life - "perhaps sir, you will someday come back with books." With all the good fortune I had been blessed with, I felt compelled to "play it forward" and return with books for his school. This is the same principle Akoha is utilizing and why we are so excited to be their initial beneficiary."
About TechCrunch50
Founded in 2007 by leading technology blog TechCrunch and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, the TechCrunch50 conference provides a platform for early-stage, and frequently unfunded, companies to launch for the first time to the technology industry's most influential venture capitalists, corporations, angel investors, fellow entrepreneurs and the international media. Companies are selected to participate exclusively on merit. TechCrunch50 is supported by corporate sponsors Google, Microsoft, MySpace and Yahoo!, as well as venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital, Mayfield Fund, Clearstone Venture Partners, Charles River Ventures, Founders Fund and Fenwick & West.
About Akoha
Akoha is a new reality-based game that uses mobile, web and real-world missions to create a new type of game play experience. Akoha was founded by Austin Hill and Alex Eberts, long-time friends and entrepreneurs who first worked together when Hill co-founded Zero-Knowledge Systems (now Radialpoint) and Eberts served as its founding product manager. The idea for Akoha came from a series of discussions resulting from the founders' attendance at the TED Conference in Monterey, where the theme was "Ideas Big Enough to Change the World," and the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, where their friends were discussing movies that can make a difference. Their conversations about game design, social change and Internet trends led co-founders Hill and Eberts to ask the question, "What if playing a game could make the world a better place?" On April 28, 2008, Akoha announced it had received $1.9 million in financing from angel investors. For more information, visit www.akoha.com.