Passively, Not Massively: GameLayers Launches A New Breed of Online Game

Sometimes great ideas flop for no better reason than they aren't marketed well. That can't be said of PMOG, a new kind of online game that just went public today. PMOG stands for, and here's the great marketing bit, passively multiplayer online game. It's a cross between an MMO and an alternate reality game.

In PMOG, each player racks up points while surfing the web with a Firefox browser plug in. You spend those points on things like mines, which work as traps, exploding in the face of the next player who visits that site. Buying armor mitigates the damage caused by mines and you can also spend points to attach devices to mine-loving players, making their next mine drop ineffective. In addition to leaving a trail of virtual ordinance behind you wherever you roam online, you can set up missions that require other players to visit certain sites. You can also leave loot for friends, who can then thank you via IM.

PMOG already claims more than 15,000 users, and the site has a video tour up, so you can check out the game before you commit to playing. The game's free though, so there's no reason not to jump straight in. Just watch where you tread.

[via TechCrunch]