Few things are as irresistible as a mobile game that lets players rack points up during waiting-room or bus-ride lulls. But if you're a brick-and-mortar shop, or a restaurant, there isn't much incentive for throwing another branded version of Tetris out into the ether.

What to do, what to do?

Solution: Hook up with Foursquare, a game where users "check in" at a given location, then jot down a sentence or two about the great finds there. (Think of it as a less-cheeky version of Yelp.) Foursquare (which is eight months old and 60,000 users strong) offers a really cool, buzz-worthy feature: The one person who "checks in" most often at an establishment is automatically named its "Mayor."

To encourage friendly competition among dignitary wannabes, some companies offer free drinks, snacks or other types of discounts to their latest Foursquare-designated "Mayor."

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