As I mentioned in my PAX Day One article, I had the chance to sit down with Cindy Armstrong while I was at PAX.  I got the see Weblings up close.  If you’re like me, you’re already spending a lot of time on the internet, and Weblings is a way to make that time a little more interesting, especially when you find yourself hitting F5 too many times waiting for new updates somewhere.  It’s a toolbar addon for Internet Explorer or Firefox, so you can battle your Weblings against bugs on any page of the internet.  As you battle, you collect shards to help you unlock more Weblings. There will also be opportunities for guided adventures in Weblings, where you do a sort of internet scavenger hunt through different sites in order to unlock a special items or shards for Weblings. Of course, there’s a main area where your Weblings have their houses, and you have the ability to decorate it with things you buy, or things you’ve unlocked. It’s definitely worth checking out if IE or Firefox are your browsers of choice. You’re already spending time online, now you can play while you browse.

From the Press Release:

Webwars Monday introduced Weblings, the first browser-based game on its innovative, layered reality gaming (LRG) platform. Weblings is a fun online Player vs Environment (PvE) game focused around collecting, with a fantasy storyline. The game is free-to-play and available to players over the age of 13. Users can gain open access on the game’s Web site at http://www.webwars.com/weblings

In Weblings, each player’s mission is to rescue a group of unique Webling characters, which are hidden everywhere on the Web, trapped by evil bugs. To find and rescue the Weblings, players must battle the bugs, equipped with a range of special powers. Their goal is to win character shards, which will eventually unlock an ever-changing collection of Weblings. Once unlocked, each Webling possesses different strengths and powers and can be used for future battles, as players strive to free the Weblings from their evil captors.

Weblings has also integrated social and community features to make playing more fun. Players can friend each other in Weblings or through Facebook and individual status updates can be shared through the newsfeed in the game. Each Weblings player also has a virtual village where their rescued Weblings live in peace and harmony. These villages can be decorated with items won from hard-fought battles or purchased through the Weblings store. Players can also purchase gifts for friends, including missing shards of locked Weblings and character shard “grab bags”, which can contain any variety of pieces for missing Weblings.

“Weblings have been crying out for help, and we see it as our personal mission to help rescue them from a life of enslavement,” said Cindy Armstrong, CEO of WebWars. “This mission happily coincides with us building a fun, engaging and social game, that people can enjoy while they’re browsing the Web. Weblings is the first of many such games from WebWars and we’re really proud of it.”

Built in Flash, the Weblings game can be installed in Internet Explorer or Firefox through a simple toolbar download; additional browser integration will be available soon.

Webwars will be introducing additional games based on the LRG platform, which will include Player vs Player (PvP) games as well. The platform leverages existing open source technology within a re-usable modular game system developed by the company. These modules enable interchangeable themes, gameplay mechanics and standard games components (social networking, chat features, billing, etc.), allowing developers to roll out new games on an aggressive development timeline. WebWars is able to pick and choose from a variety of features for its future title development, drastically reducing time-to-market and costs. The modules are also backwards compatible, enabling WebWars to upgrade existing games with future developments, in order to extend a successful franchise.

For more information about the WebWars toolbar or to begin playing Weblings, please visit http://www.webwars.com/weblings