Here Come The Germans! (With a Kinda- Second Life Knock-off...)

Papermint is an online game: you create a 2D avatar, which wanders around a colourful 3D world. Papermint's coming out of Germany from a company called AvaLoop, and has a bunch of character customisation options. You even get to take a job in the game. You rent your own home, which you then get to decorate with stuff and invite people round to dance - you can listen to music, but I'm not sure if that means actual real music. Right, now some info. It's a 'social networking game' - one shared platform for social networking and advanced casual gaming. The beta launched in Austria in March, and it's a PC download, with a new release every month. "We wanted Papermint to feel emotionally and culturally relevant to a lot of niche communities," says spokesperson Dr Barbara Lippe. The game concept is about 'capturing the social flag', creating your stuff, pimping out your house and avatar, there are two in-game currencies, and it's got advertising which is linked to the gameplay, to be non-intrusive.