In spite of (because of) how stupid this sounds, I think there's a million dollar idea in here if you made it sufficiently frustrating and competitive.

Perhaps pushing the button increments a number that decays exponentially. And ads fly in your face to distract you, which you need to wipe away. I'm actually serious.

Angry Birds. Flappy Birds. Call it "Operant Conditiony Birds!". Catchy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning_chamber

I wonder why nobody has trademarked the word "birds" by now...

Skinny Birds? Pavlov's Birds?

I tech various programming technologies. One lecture on web session handling I showed a big red button app running on a local intranet server. The problem was it had a leaderboad in it. I completely lost the class after they got the URL. One pair even went so far as to figure out how to share their session so they could combine their clicks.

Have colleagues who actually did make millions on simple and similar ideas.

Actually something almost like that exists: http://orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker/

There goes my morning, thanks.

Actually, this will keep me busy during builds.

As the distillation of all building games down to the basics, Cookie Clicker is pure awesome.

You will have to force yourself to give it up eventually, though.

Oh god don't start, you can't stop once you start.

You might also like http://progressquest.com/

also from the maker of cookie clicker:

idle game maker, a maker of games just like cookie clicker.

http://orteil.dashnet.org/experiments/idlegamemaker/help

window.setInterval(Game.ClickCookie, 0) or Game.handmadeCookies+=3999999990, and do it manually...

It's been tried as a joke not unlike yours, under the name ‘Click a cow’, and made a lot of money and many enthusiast (many ironically) players. Apparently, what you are set for life with are unending questions about the nature of what is fun, and designing meta-games.

It was Cow Clicker and it was a weird, terrible experiment.

http://www.bogost.com/blog/cow_clicker_1.shtml

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/12/ff_cowclicker/all/

there was also a short NPR story about it:

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/18/142518949/

It's on Wired too Related note: can't believe that was 2011 when I read it. http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/12/ff_cowclicker/ Time flies terrifyingly fast.

no kidding. i'm afraid of seeing how long ago it was that i created this HN account...

I just read the wikipedia write up about this -ROFL. Seriously I cant believe I missed this while it occurred. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_Clicker

Don't forget this insanity http://orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker/

I have to say this game is surprisingly thought provoking and fun. To each his own, I guess.

Especially once you launch the Web Developer tools for a bit of additional fun.

I was thinking Excel :)

The goal needs to be _not_ pushing the button. You leave the app open, it makes light and noise. High score the longer you leave the app running _without_ pushing the button

Bonus points for adding Ren & Stimpy audio quotes.

    Narrator: How can he possibly resist the maddening urge to erradicate history at the mere push of a single button? The beautiful, shiny button? The jolly, candy-like button? Will he hold out, folks? Can he hold out?

Reminds me of the old flash game "Don't Shoot the Puppy".

As the creator of that old game (which is long gone), I can say there are still people coming back asking for the theme song, which apparently, they can't stop listening to once it's started playing.

Haha I liked that flash game - my favorite level was the one where after you hit start the word didn't disappear for a second or two. Appreciated that that trick got me.

Also looks like it's still available here: http://www.rrrrthats5rs.com/games/dont-shoot-the-puppy/

Funny enough, this was exactly my reaction to the Flappy Bird phenomenon—got the game idea email in my sent-to-self box from a few days ago. It's a neat, tidy concept too when you add a high score list but the only way to make it on the list is to lose the game.

But of course the trick is to get the right 500 people telling their friends about the game, and, well, who has the time and money to bother with figuring that out?

i spent a bunch of time leveling up in idlerpg back in the day

http://www.irc-wiki.org/IdleRPG

Cookie Clicker http://orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker/

Oh god. My office ruined an entire afternoon of productivity with this game. Not because we were playing, but because we were one-upping each other on hacking the game. Great fun!

Now try Candy Box[1]. Like a plaintext Cookie Clicker that's intended to be messed with[2].

Once you're bored of that, there are... a lot more[3]. CivClicker is particularly enjoyable[4].

[1] http://candies.aniwey.net/

[2] http://candybox.wikia.com/wiki/Computer

[3] https://pay.reddit.com/r/incremental_games/

[4] http://dhmholley.co.uk/civclicker.html

1 minute hack. In Chrome Developer tools console:

function a() { document.getElementById('bigCookie').click(); window.setTimeout(a, 100); } a()

EDIT: better: Game.cookies = Game.cookies*2

Even better: Game.RuinTheFun()

I thought you were sarcastic. Then I have checked if this function actually exists.

Haha, that's fantastic.

Did anyone mention Tetris1D yet? http://www.tetris1d.org

Since the button is red, get Coke to pay you to put their logo on it. With 100M downloads, you can deliver millions of hours of exposure to the Coke logo per day. There's your $50K/day :) Now all you have to do is get 100M downloads and you're good to go.

You are way to late for this idea: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/push-the-button/id294787047?...

:) A friend of mine was really hooked to the game and wanted to push more often than a fellow (drum kit playing) colluege of his.

There's an app that just shows an egg and you have to tap it a million times until there's even a crack in it. Apparently, toddlers love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9CYhfpQnB8

I did android app that was kinda like that as a joke: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.jarofgre... http://progressbarthegame.co.uk/

After I finished it people pointed out other game jokes along the same lines - there is an RPG simulator who's name temporarily escapes me.

I'm still glad I made mine - I find it fun that people's reaction to it varies from finding it massively relaxing to one guy who gets so angry he just starts swearing whenever I mention it.

There's a number of "Zero player games" such as Godville, ProgressQuest and IdleRPG (IRC idle game) which may be the RPG simulator you mention.

I'm on Level 5 of Progress Bar. Good effort. :)

This app already exists since around 2009 and it's called "Don't push the red button":

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dont-push-the-red-button!/id...

That's pretty much exactly what SMBC Theater video "MMO" [1] is about.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD69PAIqiYo

Hah, basically an iOS version of the entire show Lost! You have to push the button every however-many-minutes it was, and after 8 years, anyone is left gets something bitterly disappointing!

Make it an MMO and take over the world!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD69PAIqiYo [SMBC Theater]

Do Not Push The Button:

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=9644

Kids, please. Spatula City, 1994.

http://stefangagne.com/spatulacity/button.htm

Pray tell more of the H.L. Mencken conjecture. What is it?

I've not heard it described as such, but he did once say:

> Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.

He also once said:

> For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.

I googled H.L. Mencken conjecture and found your reply in the search result.

This ability is simultaneously one of the most amazing and frustrating things about Google search.

You've basically described cookie clicker.