Pyramid Schemes

Aren't they supposed to be bad?  I've been reading up on them and what they are, and I'm realizing they bear an extreme resemblance to facebook games.  They open up the game, get some people to join, the people get their friends to join and play and so on in this fashion until the games get spread like the viruses they are.  The only real difference is that there's no payment involved, just buildings.  That along with future employment of the friends they invited.  Another thing to note is that in many countries pyramid scams are illegal.  The only reason the makers of these games haven't been arrested yet is because the schemes are hidden behind a cutesy façade of cartoonish graphics and child-like game play.  Oh, and because they offer you the option of paying tons, and I do mean tons, of real money if you don't want to suck your friends into the wildfire that is the facebook game.  I've seen the price tag on a lot of these, and it's obscene.  Hundreds and hundreds of dollars which could be spent on a number of other things.  You could buy an unbelievable amount of other games that are just about the exact same in game play, without the added burden of energy and other moronic resources that run out every thirteen minutes or so.  But I guess there's nothing any of us can do about it.  As long as there are cute things to keep middle-aged men and women glued to their computer screens getting subjected to forced advertisements that keep their game's makers money, then they're going to keep getting punched out.