I have only ever casually tested a Facebook app (which now appears offline), but were I to, I think use a checklist that looks something like this to guide my thoughts.

  • Sound, if present, can be disabled – One Mahjong game I play doesn’t have this option and is really annoying (and if it wasn’t for my wife having a score 1500 points more than me I wouldn’t play it at all).
  • No [obvious] algorithm problem – Another Mahjong game I have played in the past will stack the tiles sometimes in a way that it is impossible to complete the level
  • Spelling things correctly!
  • Good use of the Facebook API?
  • Cool use of the Facebook API? – My locale on Facebook is Pirate right now…
  • Non-scumbag use of the Facebook API? – Things like posting to my wall without prompting me each time count as scumbag moves.
  • Duration of activity – The apps I go back to most often have a timeboxed activity length. And that timebox is small; one or two minutes tops
  • [General] Re-playability – Is there ever a reason for me to come back?
  • [Daily] Re-playability – Is there something to entice me to come back tomorrow? And the next day? And the day after?
  • [Session] Re-playability – Can I sit here for 3 hours playing with the app? Not that I’ve lost entire days on Battle Tetris… No, certainly not.
  • Don’t be a Ponzi scheme – Some apps I’ve seen unlock certain behaviour only when you spam x number of friends with invites and/or they use the app. As soon as I hit that ponzi-wall, I’m out of there.
  • Security – Is communication to the host server encrypted? I have a plugin for Firefox that lets me post any score I want back to Bejeweled Blitz…

No doubt this grossly simplifies things, but I suspect it could generate a lot of testing ideas. Which is exactly what a good checklist does.