Cookie Clicker is an incremental idle game, meaning a lot of your progress comes from simply letting the game run in the background. However, there are many strategies and tips to optimize your cookie production and progress faster. Here's a breakdown:

1. Early Game (First Few Ascensions)

Click the Big Cookie: Initially, this is your primary source of cookies. Keep clicking until you can afford your first building.

Prioritize Cursors: Cursors are your first passive cookie producers and are surprisingly powerful later on due to "Fingers" upgrades that boost their production based on other buildings you own. Aim for at least 10 cursors early.

Buy Buildings Strategically:

Once you have cursors, start buying other buildings like Grandmas, Farms, Mines, etc.

A common strategy is to get 15 of each building type to unlock early upgrades.

Don't neglect cheaper buildings entirely, even if they seem to produce fewer cookies per second (CPS) individually. They can become valuable for minigames or synergies later.

Golden Cookies are Key:

These appear randomly and offer temporary, but massive, boosts to your cookie production. Click them as soon as they appear!

Early Golden Cookie effects include "Frenzy" (multiplies CPS by 7x) and "Lucky" (gives a large sum of cookies).

You'll unlock upgrades to increase their frequency and duration.

Upgrades are Crucial: Always prioritize buying available upgrades, as they significantly boost your CPS and unlock new mechanics.

Leave the Game Running: Cookie Clicker is an idle game. The easiest way to accumulate cookies is to keep the game open in a tab while you do other things.