[TIP] Starting with Akoha? Four tips for new players

Wondering how to get started with your missions?  Here are a few quick tips:

• Play with a friend: We find that it’s better to play your first Akoha mission with someone you know and trust.  This will allow you to practice your Akoha mission pitch and help you work out your motivations for performing a good deed.
• Start simple: Try playing a mission where you will do something that you normally do anyways.  If you like to go out for coffee with friends, play the “Invite Someone For Coffee” mission.  If you like to give your friends surprise gifts (like knitted hats!), use the “Give Someone a Surprise Gift” mission card.  Play Akoha with the acts of kindness that you already do. It makes it easier and gives you practice.
• Explain how Akoha works: Your Akoha experience (as well as the points you get) increase when your cards are claimed in by the recipient and played forward.  To increase the chances of this happening, take a moment to explain what Akoha is about.  Show them the unique ID and explain how they can go the home page and ‘claim’ the card.  You might want to mention that if these cards are confirmed 25,000 times a school is being built in Nepal.  You can also mention that this project is in its infancy, and that you are giving them access to a private beta and a chance to be amongst the first wave of users to play Akoha.  We find that all these little pieces of information increase the likelihood that the recipient you play with will confirm the Akoha mission and then pass on the mission themselves.
• It’s not all easy: Consistently doing acts of kindness can take effort.  To work around this, some of our users are setting goals for themselves: “I will do one act of kindness with someone once a week”.  By scheduling ten minutes in a day to dedicate to making someone smile, you will not only better their lives and yours, you will also be inspiring others to do the same!