So, you want to know how to beat Cookie Clicker. In short, you don’t, at least not in the traditional way a person beats a video game. Unlike with most video games, Cookie Clicker doesn’t have a point that is a definitive “end of the game”. However, that doesn’t mean the game truly goes on forever. Cookie Clicker has 663 upgrades, 569 achievements, and 126 prestige upgrades. While there are also luck-based shadow achievements, only once you have every non-luck based achievement and every upgrade have you truly beaten Cookie Clicker. 

Some achievements are simpler than others, but they all revolve around the same concept, producing cookies. You start with no buildings and the only way to get cookies is to click on the giant cookie. Once you’ve clicked on the giant cookie enough, you’ll be able to get your first building: a cursor. From that point it’s rather simple. Buildings produce cookies without you having to click on the big cookie yourself. 

Many upgrades show up when you own enough of a certain building, and achievements are like that too. The upgrades that show up will all help you boost your CPS (cookies per second) which is essential because it relates to a family of badges. A whole group of badges are based on reaching the point where you produce a certain amount of cookies per second. Furthermore, cookies are how you pay for buildings and upgrades so producing cookies allows you to keep getting more boosts. 

Now I’m sure you’ll notice the legacy button around the top middle of the screen. Clicking the legacy button causes you to ascend. You see, all those cookies you were producing contributed to your prestige level. Once you ascend you can use the heavenly chips that you’ve earned to get prestige upgrades. Then once you’re done getting upgraded there, you return to the game at the beginning (you still have your achievements) and you start over again with a twist. The twist is, you get a multiplier equal to your prestige level added to your CPS when you finish ascending. And given that some achievements require ascending, you will eventually need to ascend to get all the achievements.

Now that you’ve finished your ascending, and are back at the start, you’ll again want to build up your CPS.   After all, to truly get every achievement you’ll need to buy large quantities of every building, and that can get expensive. Additionally, some achievements and normal upgrades only start appearing after you’ve unlocked certain heavenly prestige upgrades.

Well, what are you waiting for, get out there and go beat Cookie Clicker! Maybe you’ll find yourself surprised with how good it feels to know you’ve accomplished a hard task like completing this game.