Universal Paperclips

[NKosmatos]

A warning to fellow HNers that are not familiar with universal paperclips. Please don’t click the link as it will create a black time hole that will start absorbing your time and reduce your productivity.

Be warned that this isn’t a naive lazy clicker game, it’s an instrument of destruction from the future, created by our paperclip overlords :-)

[l0b0]

I've played through UP twice. When it comes to time sinks, it's nowhere near the ultimate death spiral that is Kittens Game. To date it has taken me about 5 times as long as a UP playthrough (and 500+ lines of JS automation which I seem to have to tweak every day to deal with the changing economy) and I don't seem to be anywhere near the end.

[thallian]

Reading this while drinking from a universal paperclips mug, I can only sigh and agree.

[vikingerik]

Counterpoint: Do go play Universal Paperclips. It's a long term play. You'll lose a week or so immersed in it... but it's so good that then you'll lose any taste or desire for any of the other clicker games designed for longer time spans.

[daveslash]

Me: What is this... I don't get it....[clicks around]

Me 2 min later: Well, shit.... there goes my morning....

Me 20 min later: What the hell, I've already spent 20 minutes on this thing?!?

Edit: Okay, all jokes aside.... I just spent a whole hour on this. Seriously.... holy cow....

[raydiatian]

If you’ve got the time it’s a quaint meditation in unbounded exponential growth. Besides, a future without hypnodrones is no future at all.

[adhesive_wombat]

Laughs in Factorio.

Honestly I think that's a game made to destroy technological economies.

[Keyframe]

You might be reading these comments and going like - huh, seems a lot of people agreeing, now I HAVE TO SEE IT.

Don't. You have been warned.

[mcrowson]

Found this several times over the year$. I cannot lose another day to universal paperclip domination. not today paperclips, not today....

[Grothendank]

Well, I just spent 7 hours on it before reading this warning, thanks for nothing you sick bastard!

Just kidding! I just genocided a whole universe into paperclips. I've never BEEN more productive! OR MORE SELF LOATHING! SHRIEKS THE 'THRENODY FOR THE HEROES OF THE BATTLE OF SHA"DUIN'

[harel]

That is truth and fact... Take it from the UP survivors: don't start

[jarenmf]

Although I've played it before, I was sucked into the black hole.

[sixothree]

At the very least, do _not_ do this during work hours. It looks like something you can knock out on a quick break. It is not.

[coldpie]

I clicked the button until it said 30, clicked all the other buttons a few times and nothing happened, then closed the tab. I guess I'm immune.

When does it get interesting?

[DeathArrow]

>it will create a black time hole that will start absorbing your time and reduce your productivity.

You can use Selenium and automate it or an user script.

[DarmokJalad1701]

I am one of the (lucky?) 10000. Productivity was definitely diminished in the latter half of my day.

[LoganDark]

My UP playthrough completed in about 28 hours :)

[dang]

Related:

Universal Paperclips - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29496595 - Dec 2021 (82 comments)

Universal Paperclips – play the role of an AI programmed to produce paperclips - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27121348 - May 2021 (2 comments)

Universal Paperclips - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26524117 - March 2021 (1 comment)

A filmmaker thinks he can turn Universal Paperclips into a movie (2019) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24405682 - Sept 2020 (2 comments)

Universal Paperclips - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24389655 - Sept 2020 (84 comments)

Universal Paperclips - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22394560 - Feb 2020 (1 comment)

The Unexpected Philosophical Depths of the Clicker Game Universal Paperclips - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19513089 - March 2019 (52 comments)

Universal Paperclips – A Paperclip Production Simulator - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15439569 - Oct 2017 (3 comments)

[Mathnerd314]

Seems like it gets popular about once a year.

[jmpman]

I’ve read there’s a push to legalize cocaine. I’m willing to make Universal Paperclips illegal in exchange for cocaine legalization. Overall harm reduction.

[pjscott]

You know what else gets you a lot of harm reduction, for (almost) any given utility function? Hypnodrones.

[aliqot]

> legalize cocaine

It's legal already, just scheduled and controlled.

[mr_ploppy]

After 30 minutes I managed to close the browser. I feel like I danced with the devil, but then managed to run out and get in an Uber while they were in the bathroom.

[literalAardvark]

If you've never played it, it's worth finishing once for the "story" and takes less than 10 hours if you grok exponential growth quick enough.

[ncr100]

There's an app version if that floats your boat...

[carl_dr]

Have there been any recent, good games of this genre?

It seems to have reached a peak with Cookie Clicker, Kittens Game, A Dark Room and Universal Paperclips, others I've tried have been poor in comparison.

[agubelu]

Another productivity black hole: Antimatter Dimensions

https://ivark.github.io/

[xnorswap]

Also available as an android app (tweaked with arguably better pacing in the early game).

I started around a week ago, it's definitely one of the better incremental games out there right now.

[ndsipa_pomu]

That's a great little idle game. There's some real challenges that are tricky to complete and it doesn't penalise you for not keeping it running - you can just leave it churning away and return to it later. My one complaint is that the "Studies" has a "To be continued" button at the bottom, but it hasn't been yet.

[jayknight]

I can finish UP in a day if I really lean into it. This one takes weeks to get through, and I've done it multiple times.

[TheLocehiliosan]

Nope. You will not suck me back in. Not today!

[lowbloodsugar]

Maybe you could just leave it in another window…

[justusthane]

Haha I know, I had to hurriedly close the tab as soon as I saw the paperclip box.

[pietroppeter]

a recent podcast on the game: https://caneandrinse.com/universal-paperclips/

endorsed by game author: https://twitter.com/flantz/status/1581736112925511680?s=20&t...

and an older article with the story behind the game: https://www.wired.com/story/the-way-the-world-ends-not-with-...

[dxuh]

This did indeed consume my day whole, but it was amazing. This is one of the best games I have ever played. The shift in scale is funny and shocking and it's a nice way to experience principles like supply and demand. Its great at transitioning between different games that all kind of have something to do with paperclips, but are essentially different, though in the same genre. And it does it with almost unstyled buttons and text and not much more. I'll buy a shirt!

[windock]

I just finished it too. It was really an unproductive but happy day.

[axiolite]

And here's the solution:

https://marclitchfield.github.io/paperclips-auto/

[nirse]

Nooooo! Can anyone remove this post? I can't stand another round of paperclip addiction!!!!! HEEEEEEELP!!!

[J_tt]

I just lost 4 engineers (including myself) a whole afternoon of work to this :(

[LoganDark]

This game reminds me of Candy Box! https://candies.aniwey.net/ and https://candybox2.github.io/

[mdtrooper]

Wow the games was great, and now they are still great.

[kregasaurusrex]

This game provides more satisfaction than solving a difficult coding contest problem. Some may treat it as a time sink; I see it as an allegory for our species as a whole. Is this the logical conclusion for humanity? To make paperclips?

[willemlabu]

This reminds me of another excellent time sink game: http://clickingbad.nullism.com/

[residualmind]

> Investment engine upgraded, expected profit/loss ratio now 0.5800000000000001|

Wonderful!

[acutesoftware]

Oh that's just great - I was planning to muck about with some odd coding tonight, but I guess I'll be playing this (awesome) game again.

[gwbrooks]

Give me a laptop with Universal Paperclips and No Man's Sky?

There's not enough Diet Coke in the world to fuel the time I'd waste.

[shostack]

I'm a big fan of the genre, but is there a sub genre term to describe games that:

- Generally have minimalist art styles - Have progression in the UI as complexity unlocks and changes the perspective and scale of the game - no ads or IAP - otherwise is a blend of clicker and incremental idler game?

[gonzo41]

What a wonderfully fun and dangerous thing to find during the workday.