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Wrinkler - 1

A wrinkler with Scary Stuff turned on.

A wrinkler with Scary Stuff turned off

A wrinkler with Scary stuff turned off

Wrinklers are twitchy leech-like creatures that, in normal gameplay, only start to appear during the Grandmapocalypse. While they at first appear to reduce CpS (cookies per second), they actually provide a massive boost to cookie production in the long run.

There is a 0.01% chance a Shiny wrinkler will spawn instead of a normal wrinkler.

There is a 0.01% chance upon starting the game that all wrinklers will be replaced with winklers.

With the "Scary Stuff" option turned off, the wrinklers will have googly eyes placed overtop of their eyes.

Overview[]

Wrinklers

Ten wrinklers feeding off the Big Cookie.

TwelveWrinklers-0

Twelve wrinklers at the Big Cookie.

Wrinklers appear within the game's left panel and slowly crawl toward the Big Cookie. Upon reaching the big cookie, a wrinkler will begin to feed upon it, withering the total CpS by 5% each. A total of ten wrinklers can feed on the big cookie at once; twelve if Elder spice has been purchased, fourteen if Dragon Guts is equipped. Each additional wrinkler withers another 5% of CpS – two wrinklers wither 10% CpS total, three wither 15%, and the maximum of fourteen wrinklers withering 70% of the total CpS (actually 84% in practice, since the Dragon Guts aura that allows one to have fourteen wrinklers also increases wither to 6% per wrinkler). While the output of manually clicking the big cookie is unaffected, having enough wrinklers will appear to halve the cookie production of every building and upgrade. Note that in the latest version of cookie clicker being 2.048 sometimes wrinklers will spawn or pop up as being invisible. They will still do their effects and can be popped.

A wrinkler can be popped, or exploded, by being clicked three consecutive times. The game hints at this property by having a wrinkler continuously shake when hovered over, and in the Grimoire as a backfire in the Ressurect Abomination spell. When exploded, it will drop 1.1 × the total number of cookies withered during its life and may unlock seasonal upgrades. While offline, wrinklers are dormant, and do not wither CpS or collect cookies. The stats menu displays how much of the current CpS is being withered, as well as the number of popped wrinklers in the current ascension. If a wrinkler is popped before reaching the big cookie, it will not drop any cookies or upgrades, but will count towards the "Wrinklers Popped" statistic.

If the Grandmatriarchs are appeased, whether via Elder Pledge, Elder Covenant, or by selling all grandmas, all the wrinklers on the screen will automatically be exploded, and will not begin to appear again unless the Grandmapocalypse is restarted.

CpS multiplier[]

Because wrinklers store a percentage of the total wither rate, each additional wrinkler adds a larger bonus than the previous one. The net increase in CpS is 0.5% with one wrinkler, rising to 1008% with a maximum of fourteen. The fourteenth wrinkler alone increases net CpS by more than 143% of the pre-wrinkler base value.

To calculate the effective CpS multiplier, assuming N wrinklers present, the formula consists of:

  • (withered CPS for each wrinkler. Each wrinkler hoards 5% times number of wrinklers present. Hoarded cookies are then amplified by a flat factor of 1.1 (10% gain after popping), an additional 1.05 (5% more cookies) with the Easter Season Wrinklerspawn upgrade and additional 1.05 with the Heavenly Sacrilegious corruption upgrade.)
  • (Remaining unwithered CPS)

Put together, this is

  • without wrinkler upgrades.
  • with 1 wrinkler upgrade.
  • with both wrinkler upgrades.

From the above formula, we can draw the following CpS conclusion:

No. wrinklers CpS Multiplier CpS Multiplier with one of: "Wrinklerspawn" or "Sacrilegious corruption" CpS Multiplier with both: "Wrinklerspawn" and "Sacrilegious corruption"
0 1 1 1
1 1.005 1.00775 1.0106375
2 1.12 1.131 1.14255
3 1.345 1.36975 1.3957375
4 1.68 1.724 1.7702
5 2.125 2.19375 2.2659375
6 2.68 2.779 2.88295
7 3.345 3.47975 3.6212375
8 4.12 4.296 4.4808
9 5.005 5.22775 5.4616375
10 6 6.275 6.56375
11 7.105 7.43775 7.7871375
12 8.32 8.716 9.1318
13 9.645 10.10975 10.5977375
14 11.08 11.619 12.18495

Spawn Rate[]

Each empty wrinkler slot has a (re-) spawn rate of 0.001% (0.005% with "Unholy bait") per Grandmapocalypse stage per frame (the usual framerate is 30 fps). The Skruuia, Spirit of Scorn and Garden plants can also alter the rate.

factor
Grandmapocalypse stage 1/2/3 (One Mind/Communal Brainsweep/Elder Pact)
Unholy bait 5
Skruuia, Spirit of Scorns 2.5/2/1.5 (Diamond/Ruby/Jade)
Elder Spice +2 wrinkler slots (indirectly boosts spawn rate)
Dragon Guts +2 wrinkler slots (indirectly boosts spawn rate)
Garden plants

1-(1-0.85^WA)+0.02WR
WA = # of Wardlichen
WR = # of Wrinklegill

For example, if you have unholy bait and 3 Wardlichens in the garden when in Communal Brainsweep stage, the spawn rate will be r= 0.001% * 2 * (1-0.15*3) = 0.0011%.

On average, collecting all 12 wrinklers takes:

frames

seconds

  • On average, it takes 57 minutes and 28 seconds (11 minutes 30 seconds with "Unholy bait") for all 12 Elder Pact (speedup factor is 3) wrinklers to spawn, from a starting point of 0 wrinklers. For Communal Brainsweep, it takes 3/2 of that time, about 86 minutes (17 with "Unholy bait"). For One mind this is three times as long, which is about 172 minutes (34 with "Unholy bait").

Seasons[]

Halloween[]

Main article: Halloween Season

Halloween Cookies are unlocked randomly during the Halloween season by popping wrinklers. The unlock rate is 5% to 91% depending on achievements, upgrades, dragon auras, heavenly upgrades, pantheon gods, garden plants, and wrinkler type (normal or shiny).

Christmas[]

Main article: Christmas Season

WinterWrinkler

A wrinkler during the Christmas season

The appearance of wrinklers change during Christmas season, but Shiny wrinklers don't change.

Easter[]

Main article: Easter Season

All Easter upgrades are egg based in theme and can be unlocked randomly when clicking a Golden Cookie or Wrath Cookie, or by popping a wrinkler. At base, a Golden/Wrath Cookie has a 10% chance to unlock an egg and a wrinkler has a 2% chance to unlock an egg. Achievements, upgrades, dragon auras, heavenly upgrades, pantheon gods, and garden plants all increase the chance to unlock an egg.

Upgrades[]

Icon Name Unlock condition Base price Description ID
Wrinklerspawn Wrinklerspawn "Rare" egg
(see Probabilities)
Money 999 x 3E Wrinklers explode into 5% more cookies.
Cost scales with how many eggs you own.
"Look at this little guy! It's going to be a big boy someday! Yes it is!"
224
Wrinklerspawn Unholy bait
(heavenly upgrade)
"Starter kitchen" purchased MoneyHC 44,444 Wrinklers appear 5 times as fast.
"No wrinkler can resist the scent of worm biscuits."
292
Wrinkler icon Sacrilegious corruption
(heavenly upgrade)
"Unholy bait" purchased MoneyHC 444,444 Wrinklers regurgitate 5% more cookies.
"Unique in the animal kingdom, the wrinkler digestive tract is able to withstand an incredible degree of dilatation - provided you prod them appropriately."
293
Wrinkler icon Elder spice
(heavenly upgrade)
"Unholy bait" purchased MoneyHC 444,444 You can attract 2 more wrinklers.
"The cookie your cookie could smell like."
364
Eye of the wrinkler Eye of the wrinkler
(heavenly upgrade)
"Wrinkly cookies" purchased MoneyHC 100 million Mouse over a wrinkler to see how many cookies are in its stomach.
"Just a wrinkler and its will to survive.
Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry."
495

Achievements[]

Icon Name Description ID
Wrinkler icon Wrinkler poker Poke a wrinkler 50 times without killing it.
"Also the name of a card game popular in retirement homes."
598
Wrinkler icon Itchscratcher Burst 1 wrinkler. 105
Wrinkler icon Wrinklesquisher [note 1] Burst 50 wrinklers. 106
Wrinkler icon Moistburster [note 1] Burst 200 wrinklers. 107
Last Chance to See Last Chance to See
(shadow achievement)
Burst the near-extinct shiny wrinkler.
"You monster!"
262
  1. 1.0 1.1 Unlike most "number of actions" achievements, the Wrinkler and Reindeer achievements are counted in a single game, not all time: Ascending will reset the counter.

To help keep track of how many wrinklers you have popped, go in the "Stats" section, then look under "Special".

Trivia[]

  • In the game's code, next to the code that tells the Wrinklers to return 110% of their withered cookies is the comment "cookie dough does weird things inside wrinkler digestive tracts".
  • The "Moistburster" achievement is a reference to the Alien Franchise's Chestburster.
  • The "Last Chance To See" achievement is a reference to the book and radio documentary series about species extinction by novelist Douglas Adams and zoologist Mark Cawardine. There is also BBC television series that followed.
  • Prior to the v1.0453 update, Wrinklers disappeared when you closed the Cookie Clicker window or exited the browser.
  • The Wrinkler may be a reference to the Mosquito Larvae or the Wriggler.
  • The "Eye of the Wrinkler" description is a reference to the song "Eye Of The Tiger."
  • When the option "Scary Mode" turned off, Wrinklers will occasionally blink.
  • Wrinklers will begin to shake when your mouse is over them.

See also[]

Interactive Objects
PerfectCookie
Big Cookie
GoldCookie
Golden Cookie
SpoopierCookie
Wrath Cookie
Wrinkler - 1
Wrinkler
Raindeer
Reindeer
Santaclaus
Santa
DragonAdultStage01
Krumblor
ShinyWrinkler
Shiny wrinkler
Category:Interactive Objects
Cookie Clicker game mechanics
Cookies Cookie ClickerClickingBuildings
General AchievementsGolden CookiesMilkSugar LumpsNews TickerOptionsCheating
Cookies per Second (CpS)Cookies per Click (CpC)
Upgrades Upgrades overview
Multipliers: Flavored CookiesKittens
Research: GrandmapocalypseWrath CookiesWrinklersShiny wrinklers
Ascension AscensionHeavenly ChipsChallenge Mode
Seasons Seasons overview
Valentine's DayBusiness DayEasterHalloweenChristmas
Minigames Minigames overview
GardenStock MarketPantheonGrimoire
Further reading Gameplay
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