Do Not Play the Paperclip Game

I saw The Link  at exactly 10:11pm last night.  I noted the time because the article I saw it in said that the game would occupy at least the next couple hours.  “No way,” I foolishly thought, but I noted the time anyway.  A couple thousand clicks and optimizations later I look up and it’s 12:33am.  I swore I had only been a few minutes.  An hour tops.  Nope, 2 hours 22 minutes.  I played until 1:11am and went to bed with the screen running.  I awoke to a couple trillion dollars invested and the planet slowly running out of resources left to turn into paperclips.

Never fear, once you consume the entire planet – and it is oddly satisfying – you can then start to explore outer space and consume the vast resources of the cosmos.

Interestingly, you start to get a feel for billions vs. trillions vs. quadrillions vs octillions.  You start to get very comfortable with the fact that things ONLY cost a couple quadrillion even though you starting by selling a paperclip for $0.25.

Seriously, do not click the link.  Especially if you have anything to do the next couple days.

Also…someone doesn’t like Liza:

function cheatTrust(){
trust = trust+1;
displayMessage(“Hilary is nice. Also, Liza just cheated”);
}

function cheatOps(){
standardOps = standardOps + 10000;
displayMessage(“you just cheated, Liza”);
}

function cheatCreat(){
creativityOn = 1;
creativity = creativity + 1000;
displayMessage(“Liza just cheated. Very creative!”);
}

Update:  11:35pm the following night.  It’s over.  I finished the game the 2nd time and this time chose to elimiate “drift”.  This resulted in the game selling off all the remaining assets and shutting down.  It’s a blessing really.  If you don’t want it to end, choose the “alternate universe”.  If you’re ready to let it go, choose “eliminate drift.”