Do you have a bit too much time, love clicking on things, and enjoy cookies? Are you looking for a game that combines these qualities and allows you to share your achievements on Steam? Perfect! Then Cookie Clicker is probably for you.
What is Cookie Clicker? Cookie Clicker is an 8-year-old browser game. According to legend, it was put together in just one evening by its developer Julien “Orteil” Thiennot and posted on the internet – before it captivated hundreds of thousands of players.
In an AMA on reddit, the developer confirmed eight years ago that he did not expect the success: “Hell no, it was meant to be a joke game that no one in their right mind would play for more than 10 minutes” (via reddit).
What was originally intended as a joke exploded and contributed to the creation of an entirely new genre: Idle Games.
These are games that mainly consist of performing simple clicks, making progress, and unlocking automations that essentially take the gameplay off your hands.
In Cookie Clicker, you click on a cookie to collect cookies. Once you have collected enough cookies, you can unlock upgrades that bring you even more cookies. You can see what it looks like, for example, in the new Steam trailer:
At the beginning, the upgrades include:
- Additional cursors that click on the cookie with you
- Grannies that help with baking
- A farm that produces even more cookies
Later on, things get quite wild. From insane upgrades for the grannies to cyborg-controlled factories to time- and space-traveling cookies, everything is included. As you can see, it didn’t just stay a simple cookie clicker. The game has been continuously updated and expanded over the years. However, the principle has remained the same:
- Click
- Collect cookies
- Click more
- Collect upgrades
- Accumulate absurd amounts of cookies
Cookie Clicker is Coming to Steam Soon
This is Cookie Clicker on Steam: Cookie Clicker will be released on September 1, 2021, on Steam. It is expected to cost $4.99, with a Euro price yet to be announced. If you want to try it out in the browser, you can still do so on the Cookie Clicker website (here via Orteil / Cookie Clicker).
On Steam, the game will feature over 600 upgrades, music by Minecraft composer C418, and more than 500 Steam achievements (via Steam).
Additionally, there will be mini-games, the ability to pet a dragon, permanent heavenly upgrades, and cloud saves. Thus, the collected cookies will always remain intact.
Overall, Cookie Clicker is probably the perfect game to waste time. It even claims so itself: In the trailer, it refers to itself as a game that not only defines the idle genre but has also caused global productivity problems.
By the way, the topic of automation is also quite fascinating outside of idle games. After all, there are other games that rely on things like auto-play. MeinMMO author Jürgen Horn has already had some interesting experiences with it.
