Why Have These People Been Playing Cookie Clicker for SEVEN YEARS?

Cookie Clicker is still going strong in 2020. Let's find out why.
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Written and presented by Chris Bratt:
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Design and art direction by Anni Sayers:
/ anni_sayers

[@JelloFluoride]

From my experience, every idle game ends when you ask yourself, "why the fuck am I doing this?"

[@LanguageBLOX1_Alt]

but none of them are as good as cc

[@Brass319]

congrats on 69 likes in 1 day

[@angelerror4086]

@@LanguageBLOX1_Alt some of them get closed to it though, there're genuinely enjoyable idle games out there, mostly because they incorporated gameplay from other genre as well

[@amp4105]

@@LanguageBLOX1_Alt idle skilling is better

[@5izzy557]

Just like life itself.

[@ryanclelland6743]

Cookie clicker gets updated more often then tf2

[@r0b8i3_O]

Sad but true...

[@naethavenir9422]

Why does this happen

[@karlbischof2807]

i was ready to comment this

[@Delta_2209]

Porque é melhor

[@Auriee_]

@@Delta_2209 não

[@CynicSnacks]

KZbin recommendations doing a good job today. I remember showing Cookie Clicker to my boss back in 2015, he didn't get any work done for days after that.

[@aleksitjvladica.]

Why are you rude?

[@CynicSnacks]

@@aleksitjvladica. Excuse me?

[@masroorhaider7845]

@@aleksitjvladica. how is he rude?Cyan snacks just said what happened to the boss after he was introduced to the game?

[@baby0891]

@@aleksitjvladica. and how exactly was He rude?

[@XxXMrSisterFisterXxX]

@@baby0891 Rude for showing the game to their boss. Might as well give the man meth

[@creepcat03]

"If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing." -Orteil, Developer of Cookie Clicker

[@robertmarx4106]

I resent that idle games are not worth doing

[@jimmy_mccoolperson8277]

@@robertmarx4106 It's a reference to the achievement "If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing." for baking 1 nonillion CPS

[@silverjay2240]

@@jimmy_mccoolperson8277 I got that achievement lol, im about a month in with 5 billion prestige

[@captainrex9334]

​@@silverjay2240 Either you're a god, or your cheating lol

[@silverjay2240]

@@captainrex9334 no.... thats pretty normal, its exponential

[@pneumaniac14]

When I heard that guy say the satisfying part of cookie clicker was optimisation I immediately remembered why I loved the game. It's not about increasing the number, its about accelerating. The same thing is what drives most businessmen, because 100 million cookies may seem inconsequential if you have 10 billion, but if you truly understand the game, that can put you 100x further than you wouldve been otherwise in a months time.

[@6px]

Absolutely!

[@Metafelle]

exactly. that's why lottery winners lose money so quickly. 50 dollars might seem little when you have 500 million dollars, but when you're broke, 50 dollars is like a fortune.

[@dalemonshateu6948]

Pneumaniac 1 If you like cookie clicker for those reasons I’d suggest you try Factorio, it’s a game built on optimisation of your factory

[@JTheMelon]

Accelerating = increasing but ok

[@pneumaniac14]

@@JTheMelon by increase I meant linear increase. Acceleration is not really an increase, but the increase of an increase.

[@Bradmasta]

My save is so old that it simply says I started "A long while ago" rather than giving a specific amount of days; I believe it was sometime in September of 2013, maybe slightly earlier. I check in on the game from time to time at this point, and if theres a new building or achievement, I'll grind it out for a bit until I get them, or reach a point where it becomes quite slow to progress again. Either way, definitely put in my fair share of time into this, and I suspect I'll be finding myself returning to it until the game no longer is up.

[@SocietyIsSoFucked]

How many sugar lumps does the file have?

[@eswee6780]

and do you have all heavenly upgrades + achievements?

[@Bradmasta]

@@eswee6780 All heavenly upgrades yes, achievements no; I don't keep the game up much anymore, so i'm missing a few of the higher end ascension ones (ascending with a certain amount of cookies baked), 500 javascript consoles, and owning every fortune upgrade. I'd probably have them all if I kept the game up constantly, but eh, they'll come in time :)

[@Bradmasta]

@@SocietyIsSoFucked I have harvested 1,141 lumps thus far :)

[@chiyoko7366]

This sounds like a sad life...

[@thecanadianfood]

Cookie Clicker reminds me of when I was in school and I would take out my calculator and type something like 99 + 99 and then mash the = button and watch as the number goes up and up and up by 99 by every press of the = button.

[@ptsnt1220]

I did that with 1+1, got to about 50k

[@szecr]

Same

[@KentuckyFriedChildren]

I feel like this is something nobody ever talks about but everyone somehow does

[@mmm-ir5bo]

Holy heck, thought I'm the only one who ever do that.

[@kaeganlucas6426]

I coded it so I set x to one. Then when I hit =, it would set x equal to x^1.0001+1. Then repeat thousands of times and voila

[@carlangelo653]

The reason I particularly like Idle games is that it makes me feel like I'm not wasting time. It makes me feel "productive", I'm working AND playing a game. I love games, when I spend time away from playing games, it makes me feel something similar to FOMO, having an idle game run in the background reduces that feeling and helps me actually work better.

[@elliotttheneko]

"the game's working hard, so I should too!"

[@thelocalnecromancer1224]

@@elliotttheneko :D

[@arsenal4444]

@@elliotttheneko it's like hacking the brain, a solution so dumb but so effective it actually goes so deep into being stupid that it circles back around to genius, existentially brilliant lol

[@genekwagmyrsingh9433]

@@arsenal4444 I find myself having to engineer around my weird quirks and blocks all the time to get stuff done. I feel you.

[@Max-zo6rv]

Try playing industrial-theme modded minecraft survival

[@JacobGeller]

The video is great and also your production value is always mind-blowing to me. Great work!

[@PeopleMakeGames]

Oh hey, you! Thanks so much, Jacob - we're big fans of your work too.

[@EzeKry]

How does Jacob Geller only have one reply lol

[@FiryFly]

Three*

[@jados1268]

@Unthinkable Termination ty

[@carman2139]

uhhh guy starts talking about cookie clicker 11 mins in has a existential crisis

[@mattyjones_x]

Just want to shout my appreciation for clean, uncluttered thumbnail pictures. Great stuff !

[@luischavesdev]

Bump

[@pastelxenon]

@Royale High Concepts not an actual phobia

[@Kira-xt1vh]

Simp

[@simonthedemonprince7026]

@Royale High Concepts doesn't exist

[@obscuredictionary3263]

That’s the definition of entitlement

[@vizthex]

and the first thing you do each time is to name your bakery "Orteil" to get that sweet shadow achievement.

[@kaeganlucas6426]

And then name it ortiel

[@DuringDark]

And then click that one locked achievement

[@pvic6959]

thx 4 da tip m8

[@kirbywithaknifeisawesome6028]

@@DuringDarkand then click the cookie in the bottom of the info page

[@Vileplume87]

@@kirbywithaknifeisawesome6028and then shrink your window to get the Cookie Dunker achievement

[@QuantumWalnut]

There is actually something a little sinister about the game's underlying mechanics. The fact that we get pleasure out of "anticipation" of reward is absolutely true and some people have exploited it for other purposes, such as implementing it in slot machines in Les Vegas and making people develop gambling addictions, which result in financial ruins and destroy lives.

[@K0ZNIK]

That's like saying the internet is bad because some bad people use it for bad

[@irregularstuff5290]

It's more of the opposite, tbh: there is this mechanic that gives a lot of dopamine and in hands of most companies is used to extract money, but here you can have benefits (dopamine) without other's greed. As a gambling addict I absolutely adore it, because it's the stuff that you can't just quit but can mitigate it somehow. And clicker is certainly helping by being a backup dopamine generator.

[@hanthonyc]

@@irregularstuff5290 I'm with you on this. My ADHD brain craves that kind of dopamine, and playing idle tycoon games helps curb my generally addictive personality from engaging in this stuff in the real world that would have much larger consequences on me.

[@Alexandros.Mograine]

I remember back in the day leaving it on with autoclicker while going to school, then coming back and making big bucks.

[@Game_Sometimes]

So uh, how do you access console and what game is it on

[@__europa]

@@red2coupe ruins the point of the game tho

[@shoelicker]

@@__europa yes that's the point

[@carrotcake6002]

@@__europa How can you ruin the point of a game which is essentially pointless to begin with? This is just the fundamentals of operant conditioning in game format.

[@diablo.the.cheater]

@@carrotcake6002 Aren't all games pointless at the end? this one is just more honest about it than others.

[@Xx_BoogieBomber_xX]

I started playing this game when it came out and I had a save going up until 2018 when I lost my save switching computers. I mourn that savegame to this day, I was at like septillions of cookies per second.

[@PeopleMakeGames]

Oof, that hurts. Did you ever start again? -Chris

[@Xx_BoogieBomber_xX]

@@PeopleMakeGames Just started a new game :)

[@rerere284]

could always cheat to get back to where you were, though it might be hard to stop cheating once you start.

[@FranXiT]

@@rerere284 I'm on mobile, I lost my save once and cheating isn't even an option. I hope it never happens again.

[@Link3000XD]

@@Xx_BoogieBomber_xX keep going at it :DDD

[@antivanti]

"I'm impressed with the dedication of people who have stuck with Cookie Clicker for years" is like saying you're impressed with people who's stayed dedicated to cocaine or heroin for years. The numbers go up and you feel like you accomplished something which triggers the brains reward system which is addictive. Now I need to call my sponsor. Because like some sober alcoholics that keep a bottle hidden just in case I still have my Google Spreadsheets for calculating the best investments of cookies. My name is Anders and it has been 2 years since I last clicked a cookie. Take the advice of someone who has walked this road before. Don't click that cookie. Not even once.

[@kaydengough]

Not. Even. Once.

[@jjay109]

one cookie leads to ten cookies lead to ten million cookies and that leads to ten quintillion cookies... It's not worth it...

[@julianthemann9654]

Yeah don't click it and get true neverclick

[@Permafrost107]

*Clicks cutely*

[@doggodoggo3000]

i cant tell how serious your being.

[@JeremyFinch42]

Everyone playing console games: YOU CAN'T JUST PLAY COOKIE CLICKERS, THEY'RE NOT REAL GAMES!!! Everyone playing cookie clickers: *Haha, granny go brrrrrr.*

[@rvk8402]

I stopped playing after a week when I realised you can just change the time on your phone or computer and basically have a months progress in seconds

[@mrsmith4199]

@@rvk8402 isnt there a cheat where you can get like infinte cookies in just like less then 100 zeros

[@manumedina3448]

@@rvk8402 Yeah well, you can literally manipulate the javascript console to add whatever you want without being an informatic genius (there's some simple tutorials), in fact, if you do that the game itself gives you an "shadow" achievement (that obviusly doesn't count for the normal achievements) It's not neccesary to change the hour/day/etc. I think it's on your hands to be "honest" and play the game without using exploits to achieve the "real fun" but well, it's all yours.

[@helloumwhydoesthisexist9020]

@@mrsmith4199 Yeah I typed in a lot of zeros and the amount of cookies literally was infinity

[@squeenixu]

Haha granny go mutate into an eldritch being

[@stevie2112]

I love the subtle comedy in the script to all Chris' videos. HIs desktop background has me in tears

[@glenporritt]

Who knew Bratterz would be a thirst trap?

[@Banquet42]

He's come a long way since Eurogamer.

[@ultrapixelsdk8303]

Glass of milk in the background as well

[@chestersnap]

Ok. You can't really cream butter by hand. Creaming is the act of adding air to butter which makes your cookies lighter and fluffier. I prefer chewier cookies so I actually melt my butter first and then mix everything with a fork. Also, try to weigh everything instead of using measuring cups. Especially the flour and brown sugar because they compact a lot. If you can't do that, spoon the flour out with a separate utensil into the measuring cup and then level it (scooping directly compacts it too much) and for the brown sugar, recipes usually want it as compact as possible. Salted vs unsalted butter can be pretty important, too. Just make sure if using salted butter you use less salt. Finally, a personal tip: measure your vanilla extract over the bowl and let your pours overflow a bit. I almost always add close to an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract to every thing I bake even though I deliberately bake recipes that tend to be heavy on vanilla. I look up multiple recipes, pick in part based on vanilla amount, and then add more. Vanilla extract is like garlic: you can never have too much I could probably say a lot more but I'll stop there. I've been figuring out my chocolate chip cookie recipe for the past 10 years. So, yes, I can do better :P Edit: everything should be room temperature when you're mixing it! Forgot about that for a second

[@Call-me-Al]

I disagree on the garlic, despite being a big fan of it. I once added a full head of garlic to a guac most people would add one or two cloves to. If it had been mild garlic I could have gotten away with it, but unfortunately it was the very strong type of garlic :D Too much garlic is when you're starting to get chemical burns from all the garlic.

[@chestersnap]

@@Call-me-Al I have eaten a raw clove of garlic and I actually agree with you. Recipes never have enough is more accurate but it's not as fun to say. Dumping an entire container of vanilla extract into any recipe would also be a really bad idea

[@cryo7847]

didnt know i needed this comment until now :)

[@zak6953]

Hello, Sorry for the late reply. Chewy cookies need eggs or to be a little underbaked, soft cookies need more liquid, and a crispy cookie is more butter. And creaming involves creaming fat (usually butter) and sugar

[@pinkajou656]

Wow, actually cookie tips. Now I’m hungry.

[@JohnFKennedy420]

When that professor lady talked about “playing to plan” and “planning your schedule to maximize your experience” or whatever, I immediately thought of clash of clans. I get joy just thinking about when my upgrades will be done and making sure I have enough coin to start the next upgrade right away to maximize efficiency. Funny how that idle type of game is such a banger with society.

[@misterr3083]

"professor lady", love it!! 😂

[@Kaizomusicofficial]

I like how this went from cookie clicker to existential crisis.

[@Elementaro17]

Whenever anyone asks me why I play idle games so much on my phone, my go-to answer is “an artificial sense of accomplishment” Love what you guys are doing at PMG, please keep it up!!

[@MagiciteHeart]

Same. I'm really into idle games. It's definitely the planning and watching your plans executed that's really the hook.

[@thatoneguy9582]

the goal is to give the players a sense of pride and accomplishment-

[@batman81022]

That's why I started Cookie Clicker in this quarantine. Just for the small feeling of accomplishment.

[@batman81022]

@Maurits it's called don't pay for things??? Or only pay for things you actually want. Same for micro transactions, if you don't want them, don't buy them.

[@Elementaro17]

Agreed, I spend very little money on games, better than the alternatives that some people turn to

[@hulfe2514]

I just opened cookie clicker for the hell of it, and what I saw was about 2 quattourdecillion cookies I had forgotten this, damn I have apparently also played it for 988 days, nearly 1000! I have now ascended, and everything is so much faster! I'm already at a septillion, I haven't even bought any upgrades! I have now reached 100 javascript consoles without any upgrades I have now changed my courser so it looks like a cookie!

[@JaiDoesVideos]

Hulfe dam

[@cardboardethymith3893]

Sir, I need you to look here.

[@purrito3892]

that 988 number is just how many days since you started, I started 3 days ago, and despite only playing for one it still says 3, so really you likely only played a month or two

[@eeeesyywuwiz2836]

Hulfe Can you record it? I want proof

[@yosita9507]

Purrito a year is 365 days lol

[@Hixarian]

Something that makes Cookie Clicker stand out above other idle games is you can tell it wasn't made to earn money. So many idle games are time sinks because they want you to put in real money and skip the boring parts, but in a game all about the "boring" part that design becomes predatory

[@ChocolateMilkMonster]

I've been playing the game since about 2013-ish. When I started Uni, I restarted my run and I'm currently 1,697 days into it. I love the game, its just something nice switch tabs to and buy some upgrades, weed the garden and pop my wrigglers. I'm not min maxing the game like a lot of people do I just play it at my own pace and enjoy the events each year.

[@RuliManurung]

I played this for months back in 2014-2015 but recently rediscovered it. IMO it actually encourages much more of an active playstyle nowadays, what with gardens, pantheons, grimoires, lining up click frenzy megacombos... there always was an element of optimization strategies to this game, but it's so much more interesting now. I hear there are new mechanics in the works as well, such as dungeons and stock markets. Incredible. I hope Orteil is seeing reasonable monetization out of his creation here (e.g. through ads, Patreon, etc.). Oh, and I agree with the suggested conclusion of this video. I think in the end it's the sense of achievement/progress that drives players. Yes there is the element of anticipation as mentioned by the academic you interviewed (sorry forgot her name), and this is evident in the effort that players put in poring over the sourcecode, developing spreadsheets and tools, discussing strategies, but ultimately the main driver of this is the sense of achievement. OK, time to end this comment, I just heard the Golden Cookie chime...

[@noplesnono9656]

Ah, Haven't heard of this game in a long time... The Nostalgia can hit someone hard

[@randomguyontheinternet7940]

Last time I think I ever heard the game mentioned was in 2015. And all it took was one semi-joke video using Cookie Clicker to explain the meaning of life to make me play it again.

[@etzstyy6301]

i remember playing this in school back in primary... i had a home save that had some sextillion cookies at one point, but recently i have got back into it and realised there is a massive community of people who help to try and make things as optimised as possible and i love that... This is an amazing video...

[@Plagueistry]

I'm one of those who have played, taken breaks, played, over and over for the past 6 years. This video has now had me go back hahaha

[@mercylessplayer]

Even though I only contributed two quotes, I'm very happy to have helped make this! Excellent video, hope it gets the recognition it deserves

[@Avarn_]

I really enjoy what you guys do. Your videos focus on unique and interesting stories that I would never hear about otherwise and your editing and design work is always fantastic. You can always tell how much time, effort and care goes into all you do. Keep it up!

[@PeopleMakeGames]

Thanks so much! :)

[@Avarn_]

@@PeopleMakeGames Genuinely glad you saw this, wishing you all the best. 🙂

[@soneii5209]

Yeah he made a good video Bro. Specc up to the man dude. Also banger sup in da heaters and all dat. Schlatt got dem fat pussios and dat

[@idontwantahandlethough]

This sounds kinda mean, but I'd be interested in the careers (and their opinions of their careers) of people who have played this game for 7 years. Part of me wants to think that they must not have accomplished what they wanted to, so they play this game for the constant feeling of accomplishment or progress. I'm not sure if that theory holds any water, as all humans are susceptible to skinner boxes (to varying degrees); it very well may have nothing to do with the player's _actual_ life (and tbh I feel like I'm kinda falling into the [VERY outdated] "if you play video games you must be a loser" trope)

[@RickyC0626]

It also depends on the game and genre. Sandbox and engineering games like Minecraft, Factorio, Satisfactory and Space Engineers have a substantial player base that are engineers, as some aspects of those games encourage automation, creativity, optimizations, and managing technical debt. These games allow players near total freedom to experiment with no real life consequences (maybe losing a few hours of sleep), and also learn useful skills and practice logical thinking. There are stories of modders of similar games that have actually landed jobs in the game/software industry due to the popularity of their contributions. However, people playing Candy Crush for many hours and surpassing level 9000 is a different story.

[@erincondron8105]

Okay Jordan Peterson

[@PanGalacticGargoyleBlaster]

seconding

[@plumli4947]

Arguably they might be really successful. For example simulator games like Farm Simulator have a healthy playerbase who are actual farmers who are looking to do the enjoyable parts of their career without the crushing responsibility of if you fail your whole family might go hungry and your marriage gets destroyed by stress. I imagine for this game, the users are probably managers or office admins. People who already routinely think about the logistics of "how can I increase production" but want to without the burden of if I don't hit this quarterly number the CEO is gonna force me to fire half my workforce. I have always suspected the top Eve Online players for examples are probably actually Finance bros in real life because honestly who else could afford to maintain their fleets AND deal with the sheer number of spreadsheets required for that game. They must live and breathe Excel.

[@RickyC0626]

@@plumli4947 Finance bros who secretly enjoy geopolitics, logistics, military engineering, warfare tactics. But yeah, we all have something we truly enjoy but can't pursue in real life, and games are the perfect medium for doing just that. A place where you can learn from failure and face no consequences.

[@sebby324]

BECAUSE ITS THE ONLY UNBLOCKED GAME AT SCHOOL

[@ejumper_0987]

LMAO

[@Cat-ki3hy]

wait it was?

[@quicklight7611]

Bro in 2nd grade we could play on the pcs on Friday for 30 minutes and everyone raced to see who is best at the end (once I got a portal in 30 minutes no joke)

[@Pichu-82]

@@quicklight7611 - Did anyone ever get Neverclick or True Neverclick?

[@quicklight7611]

@@Pichu-82 I had no idea of it back then but nobody would have it because we liked to race and by the end of class person with most cookies won But now I got speedbaking 2 or 3 I forgot and true neverclick on the beta version since I beat the current one

[@arowace498]

It reminds me of RPGs that rely heavily on strategy. Sometimes, you spend more time out of the game planning your party strategy than you spend in the game executing it. Like solving a puzzle it's satisfying to see it all come together.

[@WeatherVeinFilms]

The thing that kept me hooked was the maths part of it. E.G. Is it more profitable to invest in grandmas or factories taking into account their current price?

[@antonmorozov9939]

And that's the easiest of math problems in this game... When creating a spreadsheet to optimize my game, I've learned to _integrate the log-sigmoid function_, and have overshot my Google App Engine computations quota for a free account :-)

[@brux357]

Anton Morozov amazing. I love this

[@nihilego3634]

I just care about making the number of unit I have ending by a zero.

[@Xusemeh]

@@nihilego3634 same tbh. It would tick me off if it was not at 0 or 5

[@josephvictory9536]

Hmm yea, if i had to describe the motivation it was this: Do maths: get reward from maths. The optimizations started small with "which building should i get" to "what series of choices" made would create sufficient progress to make the next series of choices arrive sooner given the current hurdle. I never really considered that different log exponential equations could feel so different until i started playing. But once you realize there is a curve even with an auto-clicker. Even between ascensions, even with certain idle strategies. Well. Then the optimization problems become quite intricate and enjoyable to some degree to figure out given how rewarding it can feel to do the right thing.

[@flashbash2]

4:06 Sounds familiar...turning an apocalypse into profit....

[@CoingamerFL]

Im so glad this video exists. I have been playing this game since 2016 and i struggle to believe that a game this simple is so addictive and so captivating, its... amazing to me. I truly love this game and, even though its not the game i played for the longest time, i would say this is my favorite game ever. Thanks, Orteil.

[@SomeGuyXG3]

I feel like that sort of journey is why people (including me) will replay old games that they loved or rewatch an entire TV or movie series. It's part that it's comforting, part that you get to see familiar progress flow through these expected channels.

[@WhizzBandit]

This was a super interesting video! I've been playing Cookie Clicker during lockdown and I can definitely relate to that abstract feeling like you're achieving something, even if it's just making a number grow larger. Great video!

[@sethb124]

I definitely understand the appeal of incremental games like this. I've beaten adventure capitalist, antimatter dimensions (at least until the reality update comes out), and I'm currently playing trimps. Cookie clicker itself never really stuck with me, as its gameplay is much to simple until you get far enough for it to be enjoyable for me, so at most I play it for a couple days until I forget about it.

[@sevengnomesinatrenchcoat]

i've been playing this game for ages, i started playing around 2013 or 2014, when i was six or seven i guess (i'm 13 now). i come back ever year or so and start from scratch, and there's always some new feature that's so fun to figure out. something about cookie clicker is just so amazing to me, it's so fun to reach the next milestone and get the next achievement and save up for the next building or upgrade, seeing my cps steadily rise and my game slowly progressing is so rewarding.

[@nessx007]

Thank you for covering this game! Played it A LOT, for years, but stopped as I got busier IRL (and hit a ceiling where there wasn't more satisfying progress to make)

[@birdomurdo]

Hasn’t played it for like, 3-4 years since I was introduced. During quarantine I was looking through old games like ‘Fire boy and Water girl’ or ‘Papas pizzeria’ when I remembered the game. I’m glad people are still playing.

[@d3ada5tronaut]

that closing quote is totally right - it is all about the satisfaction of progress. I'm like that with all my games, just an endless cycle of progress and optimization, constantly creating new goalposts to reach. There's also the sensation of getting sharp with the game's systems, like learning the ins and outs of the combat system until it's second nature. it's about finding your own playstyle. it's about the feeling of acquiring skills. for me, that's what games are all about

[@zeedar412]

Universal paperclips is the absolute pinnacle of the genre, and I recommend everyone to play it.

[@Nosirrbro]

Yes, it’s by far the best, brilliant game.

[@derpyslurp8779]

Yeah, it's my favorite one, but I play cookie clicker or antimatter dimensions or others because universal paperclips is so short

[@GabrielKnightz]

"Yahtzee's Dev Diary Episode 13: The Button that Ruins Everything"

[@DarkyDarky]

I'm one of those people who made mods for the game. They are called "Darky's Achievement Package" and "Darky's Armful Collection of Upgrades" (and both mixed together is "Darky's Achievements and Upgrades Batch") and basically, as those titles already tell you, are mods that add new achievements and upgrades to the game. Anyway, I've known about and played Cookie Clicker about 1-2 weeks after it first released (the Updated one, not the Experimental one) and have been playing it in the background since then, though I have not been doing that for a while because i basically am way in the endgame now with almost everything unlocked so for me personally there isn't a point in having it run until the next update which is also almost around the corner. I still enjoy it.

[@magpineapple]

does it ever get in the way of your daily tasks? has it become a problem ever?

[@DarkyDarky]

@@magpineapple sometimes it did annoy me having it run because it eats resources that i could use for something else. But besides that it never got in the way

[@magpineapple]

@Rasmus ive played cookie clicker but i mostly play diffrent games, i was just curious since the game seems kinda addicting. I never meant to accuse anyone.

[@that1under750]

Is it bad that I was looking for someone I knew in the comments? Hey

[@Goldiloxz]

I come back into cookie clicker ever 1-2 years and play it for who knows how long I started in 2013 It's just Pure fun Nothing holding you back It's great

[@cyio]

Cookie Clicker didnt exist in 2010. You're lying.

[@Goldiloxz]

@@cyio My mistake. Dunno why you've had to assume I'm lying

[@GetBant]

Idle games are great. Never played cookie clicker but really loved candy box. Candy box II and universal paper clips. They are fun to have on in the background. If you shortened the time it takes to play them you (at least with universal paper clips) you’d still have a nice game.

[@themultifish]

The animation this episode is off the chain! Beautifully done and so imaginative!

[@Geobeetle]

“Hatch a dragon” Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!?!

[@WhateverWhenever888]

Awesome video Man! It's nice to see people like you who understand why we enjoy idle games, one other thing I like about these games (especially on mobile) is that they don't take up lots of your time, you can play for as long or as little as you like and you can still enjoy your life with friends and family without ignoring them or being too distracted and at the same time you're still levelling up and progressing in your game, and when you have time you can come back, do a few tasks and put it down. These games become a part of people's lives so much because they're in real time.

[@MercurySG3M]

I've been searching for answers for different (but similar) questions about the satisfaction of video games, and I think this video answers them. I've dedicated years of my life to Steam achievement hunting (a less popular platform for the hobby; you see much more vibrant communities around PlayStation trophy hunting and Xbox achievement hunting) and I think the psychology is identical. I often look forward to the prospect of gaining new achievements or finishing new games to 100%, always finding pleasure in the planning and tracking process itself (a pleasure which has driven me to the career path of accounting), and find it to be "productive;" you put this into words! This channel is fantastic at creating thoughtful content.

[@IrvineTheHunter]

That planning aspect hit me hard, I play most games like I play idle, how am I going to organize my next run of a game.

[@Lapantouflemagic0]

i feel the same with board games (the complicated ones) what should i try to do next time, would this or that strategy work ? stuff like that.

[@rambi1072]

I remember playing this back in 2013, when it had its old user interface now called the legacy version. Very fun back then, was constantly waiting to get to the next tier of auto clicker, and then make 10 of them, and move on again. I think I was weary of the initial UI update that made it look like it does now, but eventually enjoyed it seen as it came with more content. Haven't played since then in 5 years, glad its still going :) was a very novel concept back in 2013. I think the think that initially attracted me was every upgrade you made you would get a sprite on screen representing it, maybe with an animation. This distinguished it from other similar games that existed at the time... I assume that feature was thanks to HTML5 (new back then itself), seen as flash could have never supported so many moving sprites so seamlessly. very cool. Actually built with javascript, I guess HTML5 was too in its infancy in 2013

[@mimmikyute]

So I'm like, one of those players. When I first started playing getting to a quadrillion was one hell of an accomplishment and God idk how many years ago that was. Eventually I'll get a new computer or something else will happen that will cause me to lose my progress and I'll stop for a few months, maybe a year, but then I'll pick it back up. I gravitate towards idle games because they're like a little dopamine rush in between working on other projects or writing that I don't really have to think about. My favourite right now is Antimatter Dimensions but Cookie Clicker was what got me into it. What I love about CC in particular is just the abstract horror-comedy vibe it gives off. It's so absurd and I love it. Between the Grandmapocalypse, the achievement names, and how the news ticker can both berate and confuse you... it all adds up into a weirdly charming little package.

[@feritye767]

cookie clicker is so good because it's not just any idle game, you keep playing for that rush when you finally can afford an expensive upgrade or finally set up a good combo, and the achievements are even better, when I get enough cps or bake enough cookies and that achievement pops up all I'm thinking is 'that is really cool and I can't wait for the next one'

[@atfruitbat]

Maybe the real cookies were the friends they clicked with along the way? Fun video. Left me with a cosy feeling and the urge to replay Forager!

[@Iversen83]

Chris smouldering away in the background is very distracting.

[@WhatILoveAboutMusic64]

The dog watching you through the window has an expression that seems to say: You're out for a walk? Without me?

[@The4stro]

im currently playing tap titans 2. all of this is absolutely true. planning on what i do after prestige (the game reset) how i plan out my clan raid attacks, what equipment i choose, being excited at getting better equipment, tinkering with my skill points, all that good stuff. and it's a long run. these are games designed to be played for years

[@adhdweirdo4314]

Inaccurate the most efficient way to play is to ignore the cursors at first and go straight for your first grandmas

[@123phi123]

Not if you're going for the Neverclick achievement

[@eggstatus5824]

Cookie Clicker with all of it's rather complicated strategy elements is a way to gamble without spending or losing money. You don't pay for perks, you do all of it through simply playing the game. Not many idle games can say the same. Of course there is merchandise for the game, but it's just that, merchandise.

[@TheDiamondMaskBSS]

As a cookie clicker fan myself, this video was very awe inspiring. Especially that beautiful background gameplay, with them noT GETTING THE 1% CPS CURSOR UPGRADES SO THAT WHEN THEY GOT A CLICK FRENZY AT LIKE 9 MINUTES THEY ONLY HAD 55 BIL PER CLICK, MEANWHILE THEIR CPS WAS ABOUT 500 QUAD AND YOU COULD SEE THE UNPURCHASED UPGRADES- anyways great video yall

[@bran_donk]

Thanks for the video! I adore cookie clicker. It feels like popular discussion around idle games like cookie clicker overlook an aspect about idle games that captivates me. Few experiences in games and even in life give us an opportunity to comprehend large numbers. One can see an illustration or read a metaphor of ones turning into thousands, thousands to millions, and so forth, but it's difficult to actually feel the weight of or viscerally comprehend that disparity between human-scale quantities and the truly large. Idle games like cookie clicker provide active context for operating at the scale of ones onward through baffling orders of magnitude. Players can actually feel how small and insignificant their past efforts later become when operating on a grander scale. For example, at an early point in cookie clicker, the idea of even trying to click the cookie anymore seems absurdly meaningless. At a glance, idle games demonstrate some basic properties of large numbers. But I think this can positively effect our perception of the universe we live in. In a subtle way, it teaches us about our place on the pale blue dot in the vastness of space. It gives weight to our childhood lessons about how many planets fit in a sun, how many lakes fit in an ocean, or how long ago dinosaurs walked the earth. It informs our actions as citizens regarding the scope and consequence of things like separation of wealth, spending at a government level, poverty, over-population, and climate change. I may be embellishing the cognitive impact of something like cookie clicker, but in a small way it and other idle games offer something more than just the satisfaction of faux progress.

[@TheKastellan]

I've seen a similar response but sometimes when I am doing something (watching yt, reading playing other games) I feel like I am wasting a certain amount of my brainpower, and having one of the multitude of idle games (I prefer factory games recently which are less like idle games...) it helps stave off that feeling.

[@BenSKG]

Cookies Per Second is a unit I never knew I needed

[@xymaryai8283]

this reminds me of the Halfbrick Studios' Tank Tactics game and the video you made about it. it was a long form turn based game, but people were constantly thinking about it, plotting and scheming about how to maximise efficiency, the only difference being action points vs cookies XD

[@Rugeon]

Neat video chris. I wonder if skinner box stuff is related at all. I didnt know it was still being developed and played. I like ur shirt in this.

[@XDjester]

That smug vacation scene was spot on. You get a like.

[@johnthebiggestjohn]

Tap the cookie: Gets 1 cookie Tap the cookie 15 times: Gets 15 cookies Me: That’s math and I don’t like it

[@deawinter]

I also played for almost 5 years and yeah I think the progress is a big part of it. The feeling that you’re always moving forward, even when you’re not playing it, that you always have a goal - that’s huge. I think if they stopped updating and adding new goals for people to work towards, player ship would eventually fall off. But if you keep giving people a basic, satisfying little puzzle with a reward they have to wait for, they’ll keep coming back.

[@jason19twofour]

This makes sense. I've been trying out Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and I've found that I really like walking away from the PC with the plane in the air and autopilot OFF, wondering how the plane's doing unmanned, and coming back to the PC and finding the plane just cruising along.

[@Chris-gonz]

Can we appreciate this comment section not being infested with Me: Them: Me: Memes.

[@yakovhadash]

tworking: 11.4%

[@philidor9657]

Thank you, I thought I was the only one who fucking hated that shit. That and "Nobody: Somebody:"

[@takke9830]

A valuable thing I think cookie clicker provides is a constant reward to not playing it. If I work on something and I know I can gonback to the game after work it makes it feel easier to work because I have something to work towards. I feel like the same thing is true with something like Animal Crossing. Every day you‘re rewarded for just living your life. And although it isn‘t playable at the same rate as a normal game with a story, it still does create fun for people wich is great! Just like with that vacation allegory, I think that having things every year to look forward to is so important. It makes you feel like there‘s always something new. There‘s always fun ahead. And as someone who also struggles a lot with depression this can really be a good way to handle times where I‘m feeling worse.

[@christiaanventer8183]

I finally got the steam release, now have over 1200 hours on my "forever" run. It's the high of getting the next upgrade, the next expensive building, the next suger lump, the pleasure of seeing an upgrade that would have taken 3000 days drop to 500 days after ascending. I might one day just get a tiny compute machine to run just this number generator for years on end, because I can plan around keeping it powered on and seeing that as a personal achievement outside of the game. Or maybe its the one thing in my life that gives me near instant gratification for the first 30 days and then teases me with more, helping me be patient instead of cheating my way to success.

[@Carlphish]

I remember the first idle game I ever heard of back in college in the early 2000’s; Progress Quest. You just installed a little program that as long as it was running just filled in progress bars with minor descriptions of what your “character” was doing, like “fighting goblins” and then upgrading your armor and weapons. It was utterly about nothing but progression.

[@randomcommentor]

One interesting thing is that never ever has cookie clicker been surpassed by another game. Idle games, the simplest genre out there, is almost completely comprised of games of significantly less value than the original. What cookie clicker does SO well is the strategy and depth that comes with the end game. Making an idle game is easy. Just make an imaginary resource go up, first slowly, then exponentially as more upgrades are introduced. This cycle could be endless, and it often is. But cookie clicker have farming minigames with tons of variety, magic spells, each with a unique effect, the list goes on. There is a strategy to cookie clicker, one that hasn't been seen anywhere else. And the funny thing is.. Cookie Clicker, when you really think about it, is a satirical caricature of capitalism. It aims to create the feeling of wanting more despite the consequences, dooming the world to a hellscape of chocolate and cookie dough, all for the sake of an imaginary number to go up. This is very evident by the headlines in the news section. You are ACTIVELY harming the world around you in the search for exponential growth with no end in sight. Cookie Clicker, a game that actively satirizes capitalism, is the most well executed (and first) idle game.

[@noahbradley4146]

I'll put out Universal Paperclips as a similar *very* good game. Though it's not exactly an idle one, more just an incremental one. It's finishable in a day pretty easily. It just has the same levels of paradigm shifts that keep you interested and giving you things to slowly work towards.

[@JediTony81]

My wife plays AdVenture Capitalism, a mobile game. When I asked her why she finds it fun, she says it is a low stress game and it is fun to make numbers go up faster and faster.

[@sebastianaliandkulche]

Well, the only spell that is really useful is hand of fate, and the minigames arent really that special. Cookie Clicker is very broken.

[@ascobal]

It’s not about the cookies, it’s about the friends we made along the way

[@sannyassi73]

That background on your far/left screen... epic!

[@tanman1000]

Thank you so much for this video! I will be using this and one day I’ll create one of the most popular games!

[@AshMan396]

I started playing about a month ago. I just put it in the background when I’m playing games, doing homework, and whatever when I do stuff on the computer.

[@Oliver_McCombie]

I spent many a hour in class playing this game.

[@crablessinbaltimore]

i think the conecpt of "progress as a reward" is extremely accurate and insightful, and i think a huge part of that is the the human need to discover; even if the "discovery" is as simple as what the next building in cookie clicker looks like

[@ekksoku]

2:35 "The way I see it, it's about optimising" - lets hope this man doesn't lay a finger on Factorio.

[@moneydotorg]

nice wallpaper

[@mharits2522]

4:55 haven't heard that word from you for a while

[@Boeviper]

M Harits Oh sugar lumps!

[@diggbeedowrong]

lol i just subbed after watching your balcony bit. great presentation and well researched!

[@GrimoireGauss]

I mostly start playing this game again whenever I have a computer at school since it can do stuff in the background. I used to click the cookie in a tiny minimized screen while I read articles at school, I guess it kept me engaged with my work instead of dozing or day dreaming

[@strqnded]

I clicked on this video because the thumbnail made me hungry.

[@IrvineTheHunter]

Chris the Internets precious, baby boy.

[@Banquet42]

"This is worth the anxiety."

[@Ekevoo]

I played cookie clicker and a lot of other idle games and it did feel satisfying at times but then not... until I found Universal Paperclips; an idle game with an end. And it cured me. I no longer played any other idle games. I still replay Universal Paperclips sometimes but it's a finite experience and I appreciate that.

[@joshuaholloway7799]

Damn you prat, so many times have I left Cookie Clicker behind and now you've forced my hand - time to return to the game

[@zgp8850]

I was playing it on my second monitor while watching this video.

[@mdukasa]

Auto clicker: I didn't end this man career...

[@SendirianAja]

auto clicker: making cookies, that's your one and only career for eternity

[@rerere284]

and the advanced version: a script that clicks the cookie, buys upgrades in a optimized way, and clicks golden cookies.

[@mySDK3333]

The fan art above your monitor seems so adorable!

[@ZhadTheRad]

Legit, just over a week ago ago a video about cookie clicker was recommended to me and I went to the game as I was watching the video, and now I'm at ~10 days in, and I get CC videos recommended to me on a near daily basis. It's such a simple yet strangely addicting game in a way

[@FletchProductionz]

Sid from Ice Age presents an idle game on based on cookies.

[@glenporritt]

Cookie clicker? I barely knew 'er!

[@scottrobinson4611]

Just out of a 2-week cookie clicker binge in the wake of the christmas break. In those 2 weeks I genuinely spent more time on cookie clicker than I did working on my PhD. First thing, it's pretty addicting to see your CPS grow, to save for that next upgrade, to click golden cookies and hope the stars align for that big combo. Something else that kept me playing was that I found myself setting goals without really thinking. I'd be setting CPS targets and playing until I broke through, or playing until I got a milk upgrade so I could leave the game running through the night while I slept. The game goes on seemingly forever, so whether you're in the billions or quattuordecillions of cookies per second, there's another upgrade just round the corner that keeps you clicking and waiting for golden cookies.

[@renharris6504]

If you want to try the Dark Souls of clicker games, check out Kittens Game sometime.

[@valiant_emmeres2138]

I started playing 5 years ago, every year or so I start again for a bit. I listen to audible at the same time so whenever I start playing I feel nostalgic for things like historical lectures and ambient rain mixers.