Having an app “go viral” is the dream of every budding Facebook developer. Frustrated by the lack of interest in his existing suite of applications, one such developer is giving his putative user base one last chance. His latest app is a game whereby his users trick their friends into revealing which app ideas would launch him into the big league.

Amir Michail, creator of such well-meaning but long-winded gems as “what have my friends told everyone I’m good at” and “my friend said I’m like which fictional character”, hopes that Mindrosia will finally provide him with a selection of truly viral ideas - along with empirical evidence that users will be drawn in by them.

To play the game, a user must create or reuse a “deceptive notification message” that purports to come from a more useful application, then send it to a gullible friend in the hope that they will fall for the fictional application’s promises. The original user will receive a point if the message convinced the friend to sign up despite the deliberately obscure description provided on Mindrosia’s sign-up page; and a bonus point is awarded if the idea was theirs in the first place.

Responding to criticism that users are being fooled into adding his app, Amir counters that “people may accept some deception if it would lead to better apps” in the future. Of course, he’s right when he says users are tricking their friends rather than the app sending notifications without authority.

But Amir hints that he would be happy to drop this controversial method of idea-generation if only we could help make his other apps widely used.

In one discussion board post, he lists some of his existing apps then pleads for help: “can you see why they are not popular?”