[aristidb]

The game has an end, and you can get there in a much more reasonable amount of time.

[willis936]

In order to reach that end you need to break character and choose to stop making paperclips. As a human player you always have this choice; you can stop playing anytime. The paperclip AI will always choose to make more paperclips.

[asoneth]

I think everyone here is trying to avoid spoilers while conveying that there is more to the game than you think initially.

(You may already know that from reading the article or playing the game, but it's not clear from your comment.)

[mrob]

You can convert the entire universe into paperclips and reach the end credits in a few hours. The start of the game can be sped up by setting your keyboard autorepeat to maximum and pressing buttons by holding down enter.

[AndrewDucker]

Nope, you can end it by making paperclips. The last button you click, in fact, will be the "Make Paperclip" one.