Playing universal paperclips, I didn’t actually know there was an ending. I was purely sold on the “mm big numbers” aspect of any idle game (what can I say. I’m simple like that).
With that mentality, faced with the minimalist screen of essentially revenue, supply, and demand, I had a visceral reaction, my brain exploding as unlocked memories of the handful of econ classes I took burst into the forefront of my mind. And while econ was (very much) not my passion, I knew it was time to use that meager knowledge.
Or so I thought.
I constantly adjusted the price, keeping an eye on the public demand percentage as well as the inventory. While trying to keep excess stock to a minimum, I unconsciously restricted myself to keep the public demand to around 100%. I’m not sure why, but it was a bizarre connection of econ class buzzwords (supply and demand !!!) that most likely was not true. Something in my mind said it would be absolutely absurd for there to be such an intense demand for paperclips, and any demand more than 100% just didn’t sit right.
But then I realized I could be making more money per second by inducing and abusing such extreme paperclip demands. It didn’t matter that I can’t possibly fathom how the number of paper clips I was producing would be needed nor used. Once I disconnected myself from the constraints of reality I placed upon the game from the beginning, it was all about getting big numbers. And that’s capitalism baby.
I honestly still haven’t even beat the game, but I’ve kept the tab open through the week, leisurely checking my stocks and seeing numbers grow. I don’t even have a need to reach the end since I can’t even predict what the end is with how abstract everything is. All I know is that my paper clip-making business is thriving and that the numbers can only go up.
