Cookie Clicker

About Cookie Clicker

Cookie Clicker is the idle game that basically invented the whole "numbers go up" genre. You click a cookie, you get cookies, you spend cookies on things that make more cookies for you, and then you walk away while the counter keeps climbing. That's it — and somehow it works.

It's the kind of game you check in on, not one you stare at for hours. You make a few clicks, buy an upgrade, close the tab, come back later to a pile of cookies you didn't earn. That loop is the entire appeal.

Why It Hooks You

Most idle games copy this formula, but Cookie Clicker nailed the pacing. Early on you're clicking like crazy for single digits. Then you buy your first auto-clicker and the game changes — you stop clicking and start managing. Then buildings take over and you're just steering.

The thing that keeps me coming back is the golden cookies. They pop up randomly and give you a big burst or a temporary frenzy. Miss one and it stings. That little bit of randomness breaks up the autopilot.

How to Play

Click the big cookie to earn cookies. Spend them in the shop on upgrades and buildings — cursors click for you, grandmas bake, farms and factories scale it up. Each tier produces more, faster.

Controls

• Click / Tap: Click the giant cookie to bake cookies manually
• Mouse: Browse the shop and buy upgrades or buildings

Strategy Tips

• Buy cursors and grandmas first. They're cheap and get the automation rolling. Don't hoard cookies early — spend them, because idle games reward momentum.
• Always click golden cookies. They appear randomly around the screen. A single one can multiply your output for a while or dump a chunk of cookies on you.
• Reinvest, don't save. Cookies sitting in the bank aren't growing. Buildings are. If you can afford the next tier, buy it.
• Step away. The whole point is that production keeps going while you're gone. Set up your buildings, leave, come back to a haul.

Building Costs at a Glance

Every price in the shop follows one rule: each building costs 15% more than the last one you bought of the same type. That's the entire economy in a sentence — a second Grandma after the 100-cookie first one costs 115, the third costs about 132, and it compounds forever.

The classic roster at base price (your first purchase of each):

Building	Base Cost	Base CpS
Cursor	15	0.1
Grandma	100	1
Farm	1,100	8
Mine	12,000	47
Factory	130,000	260
Bank	1.4 million	1,400
Temple	20 million	7,800
Wizard Tower	330 million	44,000
Shipment	5.1 billion	260,000
Alchemy Lab	75 billion	1.6 million

Browser builds of the classic usually trim the late tiers — the first ten are the ones you'll actually meet in a normal session.

What the table tells you that the shop doesn't: every tier costs roughly 10–15× the one before it but produces a similar multiple back. So the honest answer to "which building is best?" is "the newest one you can almost afford." Buy down the curve, keep a small buffer for upgrades, and let the golden cookies decide when you spike.

Base costs and CpS follow the community-maintained Cookie Clicker Wiki building table for the original game by Orteil.

FAQ

Is there an end to Cookie Clicker?

Not really. It's designed to keep going with bigger numbers and more tiers. You set your own stopping point.

Do I have to keep clicking?

Only at the very start. Once you buy a couple of auto-clickers and buildings, the game plays itself and you just manage upgrades.

Does it work on mobile?

Yes — it runs in the browser on phones and tablets, so you can check in from anywhere.

Similar Games

If you like the idle loop, Labubu Clicker and Melon Playground scratch a similar "set it up and watch it go" itch.