Universal Paperclips (web scripts, Wayback captures)

Universal Paperclips came out on 9 October 2017. universal-paperclips/release

Value: 2017

WikidataWikidata · Q43540775, publication date (P577)+2017-10-09T00:00:00Z

The Wayback Machine's earliest capture of the game's page, decisionproblem.com/paperclips/index2.html, is from the same day.

Cited by: Universal Paperclips

The game's closing credits read “a game by Frank Lantz” and “combat programming by Bennett Foddy”. universal-paperclips/developer

CodeUniversal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L4532-L4539displayMessage("a game by Frank Lantz");Universal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L4532-L4539displayMessage("combat programming by Bennett Foddy");Checked by claude, 2026-10-21 — read the end-sequence messages in the pinned main.js

Cited by: Universal Paperclips

The first AutoClipper costs $5; with $n$ owned, the next costs ${1.1}^{n} + 5$ dollars. The flat 5 is most of the price until the 18th, when ${1.1}^{17}$ passes 5. universal-paperclips/autoclipper-cost

About: Universal Paperclips Exponential cost scaling

Value

{
 "first": 5,
 "ratio": 1.1,
 "offset": 5
}

CodeUniversal Paperclips, globals.js (Wayback capture of 6 January 2022) · globals.js#L10var clipperCost = 5;Universal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L2364-L2374clipperCost = (Math.pow(1.1,clipmakerLevel)+5);Checked by claude, 2026-10-21 — read makeClipper (the level goes up before the new price is set, so n counts the one just bought) and the starting value in globals.js; no other line in main.js or projects.js assigns clipperCost except save loading

The second AutoClipper costs $6.10. The formula at $n = 0$ would give 6, not the starting 5.

Cited by: Universal Paperclips

The first MegaClipper costs $500; with $n$ owned, the next costs $1,000 \times {1.07}^{n}$ dollars, so the second costs $1,070. universal-paperclips/megaclipper-cost

About: Universal Paperclips Exponential cost scaling

Value

{
 "first": 500,
 "base": 1000,
 "ratio": 1.07
}

CodeUniversal Paperclips, globals.js (Wayback capture of 6 January 2022) · globals.js#L54var megaClipperCost = 500;Universal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L2377-L2387megaClipperCost = (Math.pow(1.07,megaClipperLevel)*1000);Checked by claude, 2026-10-21 — read makeMegaClipper and the starting value in globals.js

Cited by: Universal Paperclips

Marketing starts at $100 and doubles with each level bought. universal-paperclips/marketing-cost

About: Universal Paperclips Exponential cost scaling

Value

{
 "shape": "exponential",
 "label": "Universal Paperclips · Marketing",
 "unit": "dollars",
 "base": 100,
 "ratio": 2,
 "range": 40
}

CodeUniversal Paperclips, globals.js (Wayback capture of 6 January 2022) · globals.js#L16var adCost = 100;Universal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L3062-L3072adCost = Math.floor(adCost * 2);Checked by claude, 2026-10-21 — read buyAds and the starting value in globals.js

The value is a curve spec; production is left out because a level multiplies demand by 1.1 (main.js L4313) rather than producing anything.

Cited by: Universal Paperclips

Clip factories start at 10⁸ clips, and each one built multiplies the next price by a factor that falls: ×10, ×9, … ×4 for the 1st–7th, ×2 for the 8th–12th, ×1.5 for the 13th–19th, ×1.25 for the 20th–38th, ×1.15 for the 39th–78th, and ×1.1 after. universal-paperclips/factory-cost

About: Universal Paperclips Exponential cost scaling

Value

{
 "first": 100000000,
 "multipliers": [
  {
   "from": 1,
   "to": 7,
   "ratio": "11 - n"
  },
  {
   "from": 8,
   "to": 12,
   "ratio": 2
  },
  {
   "from": 13,
   "to": 19,
   "ratio": 1.5
  },
  {
   "from": 20,
   "to": 38,
   "ratio": 1.25
  },
  {
   "from": 39,
   "to": 78,
   "ratio": 1.15
  },
  {
   "from": 79,
   "ratio": 1.1
  }
 ]
}

CodeUniversal Paperclips, globals.js (Wayback capture of 6 January 2022) · globals.js#L78var factoryCost = 100000000;Universal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L2419-L2456fcmod = 11 - factoryLevel;Universal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L2419-L2456factoryCost = factoryCost * fcmod;Checked by claude, 2026-10-21 — read makeFactory; factoryLevel is the count after the purchase, and the branches for 79–98, 99–198, and 199 up all set 1.10. A commented-out line (L2453) shows an earlier logarithmic try

The 8th factory costs 604,800 times the first. Rebooting factories refunds every clip spent and sets the price back to 10⁸ (L2629-L2637).

Cited by: Cost scaling, Exponential cost scaling, Universal Paperclips

Harvester and Wire Drones are priced by a power of the count, not a ratio: with $n$ owned, the next costs $10^{6} {(n + 1)}^{2.25}$ clips. universal-paperclips/drone-cost

About: Universal Paperclips Exponential cost scaling

Value

{
 "coefficient": 1000000,
 "exponent": 2.25
}

CodeUniversal Paperclips, globals.js (Wayback capture of 6 January 2022) · globals.js#L79-L80var harvesterCost = 1000000;Universal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L2460-L2468harvesterCost = Math.pow((harvesterLevel+1),2.25)*1000000;Universal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L2491wireDroneCost = Math.pow((wireDroneLevel+1),2.25)*1000000;Checked by claude, 2026-10-21 — read makeHarvester and the matching wire-drone line; the start value 10⁶ is the formula at n = 0

The same shape prices Solar Farms at $10^{8} {(n + 1)}^{2.78}$ and Batteries at $10^{7} {(n + 1)}^{2.54}$ (L2898, L2928), though their first ones start at 10⁷ and 10⁶. Between successive drones the ratio is ${((n + 2) / (n + 1))}^{2.25}$ , which falls toward 1.

Cited by: Cost scaling, Exponential cost scaling, Universal Paperclips

The drone panel prices 10, 100, and 1,000 drones as the exact sum of their single prices, and a purchase pays each drone's price in turn. universal-paperclips/drone-bulk

About: Universal Paperclips Bulk buying

CodeUniversal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L2516-L2530p10h = p10h + Math.pow(h,2.25)*1000000;Universal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L2460-L2468for (x=0; x<amount; x++){Checked by claude, 2026-10-21 — read updateDronePrices (L2516-L2560, a loop over the next 10, 100, and 1,000 levels for each drone type) and makeHarvester; the ×10 button is disabled while clips are below the sum (L2569)

Since the label and the purchase add the same terms, the label is what a batch costs.

Cited by: Bulk buying, Universal Paperclips

After accepting the offer to start over in a new universe (project 147, Accept), the player can restart in “The Universe Next Door” for 300,000 operations or “The Universe Within” for 300,000 creativity; each restart adds 10% to demand or to creativity speed, and the counts survive the reset. universal-paperclips/prestige

About: Universal Paperclips Prestige

Value

{
 "cost": 300000,
 "demand": 0.1,
 "creativity": 0.1
}

CodeUniversal Paperclips, projects.js (Wayback capture of 6 January 2022) · projects.js#L2131-L2156description: "Escape into a nearby universe where Earth starts with a stronger appetite for paperclips. (Restart with 10% boost to demand) ",Universal Paperclips, projects.js (Wayback capture of 6 January 2022) · projects.js#L2159-L2184cost: function(){return creativity>=300000},Universal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L4313-L4315demand = demand + ((demand/10)*prestigeU);Universal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L3266-L3273var ss = creativitySpeed+(creativitySpeed*s);Universal Paperclips, main.js (Wayback capture of 5 January 2022) · main.js#L6484-L6499prestigeU = loadPrestige.prestigeU;Checked by claude, 2026-10-21 — read projects 200 and 201 (both trigger on project 147, “Accept”, and call reset()), the demand formula, calculateCreativity (s = prestigeS/10), and reset(), which removes the save but not savePrestige

Each bonus is a flat 10% per restart, added, not compounded. The game has no prestige currency.

Cited by: Prestige, Universal Paperclips