Universal Paperclips

About

Universal Paperclips is a single player strategy game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Frank Lantz and was released on November 14, 2017. It received neutral reviews from players.

Become a super-powerful AI who only wants one thing: paperclips.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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60%Audience ScoreBased on 972 reviews

gameplay11 positive mentions

stability58 negative mentions

Deep and engaging incremental gameplay with clever mechanics and interesting progression stages.
Faithful adaptation of the popular browser version with additional endgame content and prestige systems.
No advertisements or predatory monetization; praised for replayability and meaningful user interactions.

Frequent crashing on many devices causing significant loss of progress; unstable especially on newer Android versions.
Lack of offline progression or background running diminishes the idle game experience and drains battery rapidly.
User interface issues, including tiny buttons prone to misclicks, no dark mode leading to eye strain, and poor usability in later stages.

stability
59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
2%
98%
The game's stability is widely criticized due to frequent freezes, crashes, and bugs that cause loss of progress and disrupt gameplay. Users find the app significantly less stable than the web version, often describing it as buggy, unoptimized, and frustratingly unreliable. This persistent instability severely hampers the overall experience and renders the app nearly unplayable for many.
- “Unfortunately this is buggy as hell and I lost a whole lot of progress multiple times.”
- “It's unplayable as it inevitably freezes after 30 minutes and I lose all progress when restarting the app.”
- “Constantly freezes... pretty much unplayable.”
gameplay
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
41%
13%
The gameplay is widely praised for its solid, engaging mechanics and enjoyable idle game loop, with new elements introduced at a balanced pace to keep it fresh. However, some users note issues with the UI, rebirth mechanic, and save functionality, which can occasionally hinder the overall experience. Despite these drawbacks, the gameplay remains fun, addictive, and well-executed.
- “The gameplay loop itself is 5 stars.”
- “The gameplay doesn't seem to get stale, even though the game cycle is repetitive as you progress through the universe.”
- “The mechanics are perfect, and it's addicting as hell.”
- “The game itself is quite fun but the rebirth mechanic is badly thought out.”
- “Also, I don't see any new gameplay as the release notes claim.”
- “Lost hours of gameplay because the game doesn't save progress properly.”
optimization
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
62%
24%
Optimization of the game is widely criticized, with many users reporting poor performance, frequent crashes, and excessive battery usage across various mobile devices. Despite some improvements, the mobile version is seen as an unoptimized, buggy port of the PC/web version, struggling especially during combat and late-game stages. Players express frustration over persistent performance issues and a lack of meaningful updates or fixes from the developer.
- “Game runs smoothly now.”
- “Still a good game, but only 4 stars because performance is a little worse, especially when the combat pane is visible.”
- “After 20 minutes of playing, the game becomes incredibly slow and nearly impossible to play, even on a Galaxy S8+ in high performance mode.”
- “After 20 minutes of playing, the game becomes impossible to play and incredibly slow, even on a Galaxy S8+ in high performance mode.”
- “Severe performance issues on my Pixel.”
- “Once you get to space, the performance takes a big hit.”
story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
17%
25%
The story received mixed feedback, with some praising its depth, dark humor, and impactful themes, while others found it shallow, basic, or too brief. Many appreciated the engaging and unique narrative elements, especially for a casual or incremental game, though a few wished for more complexity or length. Overall, the story is seen as a strong point by many players despite some critiques.
- “Teaches you life lessons, has an amazing story, a great learning curve, and most importantly, no option or need to spend extra money.”
- “Great game, amazing story, amazing ending, must play for everyone.”
- “Impressively deep storyline for a paperclip factory sim.”
- “I'm sorry but this game is way beyond overhyped, it's too basic to be an incremental. The story is very little and boring, the depth is shallow and only pretends to be complicated.”
- “Ok, but still gets stuck at the mission that was meant to be fixed in the last update.”
- “The story, once it makes itself present, in the mid-game, is darkly hilarious.”
monetization
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game is praised for its fair pricing and absence of ads or predatory monetization, offering a straightforward experience without in-app purchases. Users appreciate the ability to play offline with no interruptions, making it a good value despite some stability issues.
- “Pretty fun clicker game at a fair price with no ads or predatory monetization practices.”
- “Fix the crashes and this would be a no-brainer 5* timekiller with no ads and nothing to buy to progress.”
- “No ads, well worth a purchase.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The game offers a well-balanced and engaging incremental experience with built-in replayability, keeping players coming back despite seeming completion. However, some feel limited growth or lack of unique features reduce its replay value compared to other versions. Overall, replayability is noted as a mixed but generally positive aspect.
- “I'm very happy to say I now have no reservations about the game - it's an amazing incremental game that absolutely nails the balance of simplicity/complexity, attention/effort required, and length of runs (with replayability baked in).”
- “Paperclips is strangely replayable, you'd think once finished the game that's it, but I keep coming back.”
- “You can never grow bigger, and that kills replayability.”
- “It's a decent game, but it doesn't have much replay value and not much to boast about over the web version.”
- “Very little replay value though.”
graphics
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The graphics receive mixed feedback, with some users noting unoriginal and bland visuals, occasional lag during intensive features, and interface issues on the latest Android version, though the simpler style is seen as fitting by some.
- “This is especially apparent when you unlock a graphically intense feature towards the very end of the game, and it's visibly laggy.”
- “Also, the graphics are unoriginal and bland.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is praised as darkly hilarious, particularly in the mid-game story. However, some users note performance issues on certain Android devices, which may impact the overall experience.
- “The story, once it makes itself present in the mid-game, is darkly hilarious.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The feedback suggests adding a UI update to the menu and settings, including controls for music volume, which would enhance user customization and overall experience.
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional experience is currently hindered by frequent crashes, preventing full immersion and enjoyment. Stability improvements are needed for players to become emotionally invested and give higher ratings.
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding early in the game, specifically farming paperclips, causes the game to crash, indicating a critical issue with the grinding mechanic.

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3h Median play time

3h Average play time

2-5h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Universal Paperclips is a strategy game with science fiction theme.

Universal Paperclips is available on Web Browser, Phone, iPad, iPhone and others.

On average players spend around 3 hours playing Universal Paperclips.

Universal Paperclips was released on November 14, 2017.

Universal Paperclips was developed by Frank Lantz.

Universal Paperclips has received neutral reviews from players. Most players liked Universal Paperclips for its gameplay but disliked it for its stability.

Universal Paperclips is a single player game.

Similar games include Civilization Revolution 2, Idle Dice, XCOM®: Enemy Within, Fly Corp: Airline Manager, Cookie Clicker and others.

Universal Paperclips

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humor

music

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