With some of the largest game releases in history taking place in the last decade, it's easy to overlook just how massive an explosion social gaming has experienced over the last few years, months, even weeks. Everybody has heard of World of Warcraft, and millions of schoolchildren and grandmothers know about the addiction of Farmville. With news on The Old Republic, DCU Online, and dozens of other MMO's pouring in day after day, a person can start to think that they know all there is to see when it comes to social games.

Ever heard of a world set inside the imagination of 11 giants, where each created character has the ability to learn, grow, and build things that can all have a vastly profound impact on the shape of the collective world? Well then let us be the first to tell you about a new game called Glitch.

The new game from Tiny Speck, the small game company founded by four of the original Flickr employees seeks to completely redefine how players view the worlds in which they play. Glitch is a web-based MMO that takes place in a persistent world made up of several different worlds that all look and feel different, granting players the ability to decide how the game environments will change over time.

The game's focus is not on violence or leveling up, but acquiring knowledge and skills for your in-game character. With wisdom comes the ability to have an even greater impact on the world that every player's characters call home.

The concept is intriguing enough, but to get a better idea of the new and somewhat off-beat approach that Tiny Speck is taking with their new MMO, have a look at the game's first official teaser trailer:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6O5QXj6n18

The amount of leveling available for this game seems mind-boggling from the first look, with Levitation, Soil Appreciation, Remote Herdkeeping, Teleportation and Alchemy just a few of the skills that can be learned. From this example alone, it should be clear that the game will be bringing several different genres and strategies together in the imaginary worlds of Glitch.

Fans of Facebook games will instantly recognize several features of Zynga titles like Farmville and CafeWorld. Rather than completely reinventing the wheel, it seems that the team at Tiny Speck is bringing some of the most addictive and rewarding aspects of different games together in one free-to-play massively multiplayer game. It's worked before, since the team at Flickr didn't revolutionize picture-taking- just how we view them.

According to the game's official site, the word 'glitch' refers to the nature of the game's creation and development, with small actions having an effect on the whole that couldn't possibly have been foreseen. The social gaming space is already full, and getting even more populated by the day, so how will Glitch offer something new?

"For starters, it's all one big world. Which means everyone is playing the same game and anyone's actions have the ability to affect every other player in the game. It also involves very little war, moats, spaceships, wizards, mafiosos, or people with implausibly large muscles. Also: we have egg plants. Egg plants make it very different.

"The game is mostly non-violent and you don't spend your time fighting people (except maybe those who have the nerve to vie with you for economic, political or religious supremacy). It's more of a collaborative simulation where the direction the world takes emerges out of the collective action of the players, rather than the top-down whim of a single person acting as god, as in traditional single-player simulation games."

Glitch is currently undergoing its Alpha phase, and will be entering its Beta sometime in the spring of 2011. If you'd like to enter for your chance to get an early look at the game in action, or take a look at more details and concept art, head over to the game's website now. We'll be keeping an eye out for more details, since this game is obviously going to be worth keeping an eye on.

Hopefully the game's theme song ringing in your ears will be enough to keep you preoccupied until Glitch arrives sometime in the spring of 2011.

Source: Glitch.com (via Kotaku)