akoha_tsdoNot every project we write about here starts with an attractive brunette female in trouble, and in the case of these two campaigns, we don’t even know where the game starts and real life ends. First up, we have Akoha, a company that describes itself as one that believes that “community is not only the lifeblood of our company, but also an ongoing dedication to listening and working with our users to create something special.” Akoma recently made waves at the TED Conference by distributing packs of mission cards in its Inspired Minds series. The cards describe missions tailor-made for kindness, which include giving someone a hero medal, or sharing a book. In the world of community building and social networking, Akoma missions seem like a good way to spread kindness throughout your digital and physical world.

The second project on the list is the Top Secret Dance-Off. We were tipped off about this endeavor through Jane McGonigal’s twitter stream, and many people in the ARG community are participating in the game. The general idea, as described on the web site, is that there is an “underground world of dance quests and dance-offs,” where players can “[d]iscover new dance battlegrounds and develop [their] top secret Choreopowers!” Choreopowers might just be the word of the year, and as such, we encourage those that aren’t afraid to don a mask and complete an dance-based mission to grab your nearest video recording device and get started. Learn all about the rules through a video posted by a very familiar-looking Punky McMonsef, and check out the videos of one of our favorite Cthulhu-loving dancemasters.