A while back (probably 3 months, or so), I ran across moshimonsters.com through an online design gallery. At that time, the site was nothing but a landing page, so I paid little attention–other than appreciating the shiny-ness of the design.

Today, this site popped up again on another design gallery, but this time the full application was live. Needless to say, I neglected other responsibilities and dove right in.

Moshi Monsters is an online "monster pet" game. Each person gets to create their own monster, name it, decorate the monster's house, etc. Pretty standard stuff. Oh, and there's the obligatory "games" that help you earn points towards buying food, furniture, and booze for your Moshi Monster.

I've done a million of these before, and have quickly lost interest. What is unique about MM, however, is that it has brought the "digital pet" genre into the Web 2.0 world. Not only can you network with your friends that have their own Moshi's, but the game also integrates nicely with Facebook (and other social networking applications) to extend the experience beyond the confines of the moshimonsters.com site. Plus, the site itself is very enjoyable as it is very professionally animated, and contains alot of fun easter-eggish elements.

Anyway, if you have a second, check it out. It's shiny, and actually pretty fun. Plus, what else do you REALLY have to do?

Oh yeah, here's my Moshi, named "Perifen."  If you get one of your own, be sure to add me to your friends–just enter "existdissolve."