Users of Google’s web-based email service received a little something extra as Google opened a testing ground for new tweaks to try in Gmail.

When Gmail debuted, it held one significant feature the competition was not offering: a fat 1GB of storage space. In a time when web-based email services meted out storage by the megabyte, Gmail presented a welcome change and spurred rivals to expand their storage too.

Google wants its engineers to continue innovating the service, but as an extra benefit they have opened a way for people to try out the latest little tweaks in Gmail. The company announced the addition of Gmail Labs as the way to do this.

On the Gmail blog, Google’s Keith Coleman noted the presence of a new tab called Labs in Gmail’s settings; this leads to the new features to try out in the service.

Gmail Labs presents features to the user ranging from the cosmetic (additional star icons) to functional (mouse gestures to navigate.) As Coleman noted, one engineer dropped a version of the ancient video game (circa 1970s) Snake into labs as an option.

Should something go completely wrong with Labs, as Coleman warned could happen with these experimental add-ons, an option to login with Labs disabled provides a safe way to get into Gmail again.

“The idea behind Labs is that any engineer can go to lunch, come up with a cool idea, code it up, and ship it as a Labs feature. To tens of millions of users. No design reviews, no product analysis, and to be honest, not that much testing,” said Coleman.