Wrinkler

A wrinkler.

Wrinklers are twitchy leech-like creatures that, in normal gameplay, only start appearing 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.

Overview

Ten wrinklers feeding off the Big Cookie.

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. Each additional wrinkler withers another 5% of CpS – two wrinklers wither 10% CpS total, three wither 15%, and the maximum of twelve wrinklers withering 60% of the total CpS. 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 2.031 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.

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 832% with a maximum of twelve. The twelfth wrinkler alone increases net CpS by more than 120% of the pre-wrinkler base value.

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

• $N\cdot 0.05\cdot 1.1\cdot 1.05\cdot 1.05$(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.)
• $1-N\cdot 0.05$(Remaining unwithered CPS)

Put together, this is

• $N\cdot (N\cdot 0.05\cdot 1.1)+(1-N\cdot 0.05)=N^{2}\cdot 0.055-N\cdot 0.05+1$without wrinkler upgrades.
• $N\cdot (N\cdot 0.05\cdot 1.1)\cdot (1.05)+(1-N\cdot 0.05)=N^{2}\cdot 0.05775-N\cdot 0.05+1$with 1 wrinkler upgrade.
• $N\cdot (N\cdot 0.05\cdot 1.1)\cdot (1.05\cdot 1.05)+(1-N\cdot 0.05)=N^{2}\cdot 0.0606375-N\cdot 0.05+1$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

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)
Garden plants	1-0.15WA+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:

${\frac {1}{r}}\sum _{k=1}^{12}{\frac {1}{k}}={\frac {1}{r}}{\frac {86021}{27720}}$ frames

$\approx {\frac {0.10344}{r}}$ 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").
• Upon opening the Cookie Clicker page (includes refreshing page) and regardless of their previous location, all actively withering wrinklers will be moved to upper right around the cookie in a clockwise pattern. The total amount of withered cookies will also be averaged and reallocated between each wrinkler.

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).

Easter

Main article: Easter Season

A wrinkler during the Christmas 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.

Christmas

Main article: Christmas Season

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

Upgrades

Icon	Name	Unlock condition	Base price	Description	ID
	Wrinklerspawn	"Rare" eggs (see Probabilities).	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
	Unholy bait (heavenly upgrade)	"Starter kitchen" purchased	44,444	Wrinklers appear 5 times as fast. "No wrinkler can resist the scent of worm biscuits."	292
	Sacrilegious corruption (heavenly upgrade)	"Unholy bait" purchased	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
	Elder spice (heavenly upgrade)			You can attract 2 more wrinklers. "The cookie your cookie could smell like."	364
	Eye of the wrinkler (heavenly upgrade)	"Wrinkly cookies" purchased	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
	Itchscratcher	Burst 1 wrinkler.	105
	Wrinklesquisher	Burst 50 wrinklers.	106
	Moistburster	Burst 200 wrinklers.	107
	Last Chance to See (shadow achievement)	Burst the near-extinct shiny wrinkler. "You monster!"	262

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.
• By saving and refreshing the page, the withered cookies are distributed evenly amongst current wrinklers.
• 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"

Interactive Objects
	Big Cookie			Golden Cookie		Wrath Cookie
Wrinkler		Reindeer		Santa	Krumblor		Shiny wrinkler
Category:Interactive Objects