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Cookie Clicker
Cookie Clicker is a 2013 video game created by French programmer Julien "Orteil" Thiennot. It is an incremental game in which the user initially clicks a big cookie on the screen, earning 1 cookie per click. Players can use earned cookies to purchase "buildings" that automatically produce cookies, alongside upgrades which improve the efficiency of clicks and buildings. There are other mechanics allowing the user to earn cookies in various ways. As cookies are earned at an exponential rate, the game gradually shifts to themes of cosmic horror. Similar to other incremental games, the game lacks a conventional ending, instead allowing players to restart the game through "ascension" and earn a faster rate of growth.
The game has a dedicated fanbase. Though the original version was coded in one night, Cookie Clicker has been periodically updated since release. It has been widely described as addictive, and has been credited with playing a role in the emergence of idle gaming.
At first, the player clicks on a large cookie, earning one cookie per click. With these cookies, the player can buy additional means of production such as cursors, grandmas, farms, mines, factories, banks, temples, and 14 more that automatically generate cookies. Prices increase exponentially, with each asset costing 15% more than the last-purchased asset of the same type. The player may also purchase upgrades to increase cookie production for these buildings. Golden cookies, small cookies that appear in random locations and fade away after several seconds, appear periodically and grant effects, such as a temporary increase in the rate of production, if clicked before they disappear.
After earning a certain number of cookies, the player can 'ascend', losing all their progress but earning heavenly chips and prestige levels. Prestige levels add a permanent boost (+1% per level) to the rate of cookie production in future playthroughs, while heavenly chips can be spent on a wide variety of prestige upgrades. However, the number of cookies needed to unlock the next prestige level goes up proportionally with the cube of the level, becoming harder to attain as more are acquired. Other game mechanics include "wrinklers" (eldritch beasts which reduce cookie production, but can be popped by clicking them, returning all the cookies it digested with interest), Krumblor the Cookie Dragon, and sugar lumps (which take 24 hours to coalesce and are used to level up buildings, boost their production rate, and unlock minigames.)
Achievements can be earned by completing various tasks or goals, such as reaching a certain number of total cookies produced, owning a particular number of buildings of a certain type or clicking a certain number of golden cookies. Upon reaching a certain number of achievements, the player unlocks different colors of milk that appear below the cookie. There are also shadow achievements, which are achievements that were determined too unfair or difficult to complete. Shadow achievements do not contribute to unlocking new milk. "Kitten" upgrades appear when a new milk is unlocked. With "kitten" upgrades, the player earns extra production depending on their total achievements. Additionally, seasonal events occur during their respective holidays which come with more upgrades and cookies to unlock.
The game features geometric or exponential growth: the player begins by baking individual cookies, but can quickly reach billions of cookies, and eventually attain trevigintillions (1072) of cookies or beyond. Though the game has no clear ending, it has 637 achievements, and users may aim to reach milestone numbers of cookies. Players have speedrun Cookie Clicker, such as the 1 million cookies speedrun tournament in RTA in Japan Winter 2022.
Julien Thiennot, also known as Orteil, created Cookie Clicker on August 8, 2013. Written in a single evening, the game was posted in a link on 4chan, and garnered 50,000 players within hours. A month after the game's initial release, it had over 200,000 players per day. Orteil later wrote that traffic had peaked at 1.5 million hits in one day during August 2013, and by January 2014, Cookie Clicker was still getting a steady 225,000 hits per day. The game has had continual updates since its release, notably the "legacy" update in February 2016 and the "spiritual" update in July 2017. On October 25, 2018, Orteil launched the game's Patreon page, with the intent to develop Cookie Clicker and other Dashnet games becoming a full-time job, though it has been announced that the Patreon will close on January 24, 2026. As of January 27, 2026, the Patreon is no longer accessible. On August 8, 2019, the mobile beta for Cookie Clicker was released for Android devices after a long delay.
Cookie Clicker is similar to Cow Clicker, a previously existing idle game created by Ian Bogost. Bogost has called Cookie Clicker "the logical conclusion of Cow Clicker". Orteil later released other idle games such as: Idle Game Maker, a tool allowing customized idle games to be made without coding knowledge; AdventureQuest Dragons, a mobile game created with Artix Entertainment; and NeverEnding Legacy.
Hub AI
Cookie Clicker AI simulator
(@Cookie Clicker_simulator)
Cookie Clicker
Cookie Clicker is a 2013 video game created by French programmer Julien "Orteil" Thiennot. It is an incremental game in which the user initially clicks a big cookie on the screen, earning 1 cookie per click. Players can use earned cookies to purchase "buildings" that automatically produce cookies, alongside upgrades which improve the efficiency of clicks and buildings. There are other mechanics allowing the user to earn cookies in various ways. As cookies are earned at an exponential rate, the game gradually shifts to themes of cosmic horror. Similar to other incremental games, the game lacks a conventional ending, instead allowing players to restart the game through "ascension" and earn a faster rate of growth.
The game has a dedicated fanbase. Though the original version was coded in one night, Cookie Clicker has been periodically updated since release. It has been widely described as addictive, and has been credited with playing a role in the emergence of idle gaming.
At first, the player clicks on a large cookie, earning one cookie per click. With these cookies, the player can buy additional means of production such as cursors, grandmas, farms, mines, factories, banks, temples, and 14 more that automatically generate cookies. Prices increase exponentially, with each asset costing 15% more than the last-purchased asset of the same type. The player may also purchase upgrades to increase cookie production for these buildings. Golden cookies, small cookies that appear in random locations and fade away after several seconds, appear periodically and grant effects, such as a temporary increase in the rate of production, if clicked before they disappear.
After earning a certain number of cookies, the player can 'ascend', losing all their progress but earning heavenly chips and prestige levels. Prestige levels add a permanent boost (+1% per level) to the rate of cookie production in future playthroughs, while heavenly chips can be spent on a wide variety of prestige upgrades. However, the number of cookies needed to unlock the next prestige level goes up proportionally with the cube of the level, becoming harder to attain as more are acquired. Other game mechanics include "wrinklers" (eldritch beasts which reduce cookie production, but can be popped by clicking them, returning all the cookies it digested with interest), Krumblor the Cookie Dragon, and sugar lumps (which take 24 hours to coalesce and are used to level up buildings, boost their production rate, and unlock minigames.)
Achievements can be earned by completing various tasks or goals, such as reaching a certain number of total cookies produced, owning a particular number of buildings of a certain type or clicking a certain number of golden cookies. Upon reaching a certain number of achievements, the player unlocks different colors of milk that appear below the cookie. There are also shadow achievements, which are achievements that were determined too unfair or difficult to complete. Shadow achievements do not contribute to unlocking new milk. "Kitten" upgrades appear when a new milk is unlocked. With "kitten" upgrades, the player earns extra production depending on their total achievements. Additionally, seasonal events occur during their respective holidays which come with more upgrades and cookies to unlock.
The game features geometric or exponential growth: the player begins by baking individual cookies, but can quickly reach billions of cookies, and eventually attain trevigintillions (1072) of cookies or beyond. Though the game has no clear ending, it has 637 achievements, and users may aim to reach milestone numbers of cookies. Players have speedrun Cookie Clicker, such as the 1 million cookies speedrun tournament in RTA in Japan Winter 2022.
Julien Thiennot, also known as Orteil, created Cookie Clicker on August 8, 2013. Written in a single evening, the game was posted in a link on 4chan, and garnered 50,000 players within hours. A month after the game's initial release, it had over 200,000 players per day. Orteil later wrote that traffic had peaked at 1.5 million hits in one day during August 2013, and by January 2014, Cookie Clicker was still getting a steady 225,000 hits per day. The game has had continual updates since its release, notably the "legacy" update in February 2016 and the "spiritual" update in July 2017. On October 25, 2018, Orteil launched the game's Patreon page, with the intent to develop Cookie Clicker and other Dashnet games becoming a full-time job, though it has been announced that the Patreon will close on January 24, 2026. As of January 27, 2026, the Patreon is no longer accessible. On August 8, 2019, the mobile beta for Cookie Clicker was released for Android devices after a long delay.
Cookie Clicker is similar to Cow Clicker, a previously existing idle game created by Ian Bogost. Bogost has called Cookie Clicker "the logical conclusion of Cow Clicker". Orteil later released other idle games such as: Idle Game Maker, a tool allowing customized idle games to be made without coding knowledge; AdventureQuest Dragons, a mobile game created with Artix Entertainment; and NeverEnding Legacy.