Murkaverse

Hey IH,

I've been heads-down for 8 months building Murkaverse, an AI dream interpretation app, and we're close to App Store launch. Sharing partly because I'd love feedback before we ship and generally I am excited to announce the upcoming launch.

The why

Every dream app I tried felt cold. You'd describe a vivid dream and get back a generic paragraph that read like a horoscope. The category is a sea of dream dictionaries that all feel like the same Wikipedia article paraphrased.

So we built Murkaverse around a character. Her name is Murka, a cat mascot that is friendly and fun to interact with. She's not a chatbot in a wrapper, she has a personality, remembers your dreams, and talks to you the way a thoughtful friend would. The interpretations are grounded in Jungian psychology folklore, two traditions almost nobody in this category has seriously touched.

Where we are

• Validated the core experience first as a Telegram bot, which has a small core of returning daily users

• iOS app in final polish, App Store submission going in soon

• Same for the Android app.

What's next

Treating dreams as a daily practice rather than a one-off lookup:

• Gamification - rewards for consistent logging, deeper readings unlocked as your dream history grows, seasonal content tied to lunar cycles

• Animated Murka - a fully animated version of the mascot who reacts to your dreams in real time. She has moods and gets curious about recurring symbols to keep the conversation flowing.

• Pattern insights - once you've logged a few weeks, the app surfaces recurring figures and archetypes across your dreams.

Three lessons so far

1. Building the Telegram bot first was the best decision I made. Let us validate the experience with real users and prove out retention before committing to iOS. Cheat code if you're building anything chat-based.

2. Character > features. Once Murka became a real personality instead of "an AI assistant with a name," everything got easier - brand, marketing, potential users started to remember and recognise the mascot.

3. The "AI app" framing is becoming a liability. Every wellness app now has "AI" in the title. Leading with the character and letting AI do the work invisibly underneath has landed way better.

The ask

If you've ever logged a dream or wondered what your subconscious is doing while you sleep, I'd love your eyes on it before we go live. Drop a comment or DM and I'll get you early access.

Also genuinely curious - what would make you actually open a dream app the morning after a strange dream? Retention is the question I think about most.

- Kris murkaverse.com