You sit in front of the computer, running around the web for hours per day. Chances are you’re probably doing that right now. So what if, just by virtue of running around the web, you could earn points, deploy mines, and light the way from website to website for fellow surfers? Today marks the launch of The Passively Multiplayer Online Game (PMOG), an online game that translates web surfing into social play. PMOG was developed by GameLayers, a start-up specializing in playful experiences for web browsers. The two main characters behind the operation are pioneer blogger Justin Hall, and immersive entertainment designer Merci Victoria Grace.

PMOG is a Firefox extension that lives in the toolbar, enabling players to annotate the web with crates, mines, choreographed web surfs known as missions, and more, transforming it into a social playground. Grace describes PMOG as an arms dealer to the web, and publisher Tim O’Reilly considers it a bold experiment in exploring new possibilities in cyberspace (GameLayers, Inc.). I call it an “alternate virtuality game.” And after ten weeks in closed beta, it’s coming to the web near you. Maybe even this very webpage. But you wouldn’t know it unless you joined in…