Greg Costikyan, CEO of Manifesto Games today announced the launch of a new site called Play This Thing ( playthisthing.com ) This new web site, which maintains the spirit of Costikyan's other venture, features "one cool game each weekday." Of course, you can expect other regular updates including occasional pointers to video, music, books, or other stuff of interest to gamers.

Play This Thing promises to cover a variety of game types including free online games; independently developed computer games; interactive fiction; tabletop (that is, non-digital) games; ARGs; Big Urban Games; and mods--all the cool stuff that's being done in games outside the normal commercial channels. The goal of Play This Thing is to draw attention to smaller, innovative games that might not receive attention from the mainstream games press (present company excluded, of course).

The game featured on its first day is The Redistricting Game, Flash game created by Chris Swain at USC's Game Innovation Lab. The Redistricting Game challenges players to sabotage their political opponents by gerrymandering political districts. While the subject matter is boring, the developer takes the gameplay in a direction that makes it fun and engaging for users.

Check out the latest by visiting playthisthing.com right now.