How to play NanoGenesis

A guide to harvesting, refining, automating and wrapping a star — plus answers to the questions players ask most.

What is NanoGenesis?

NanoGenesis is a free browser-based idle game in which you grow a self-replicating nanobot swarm until it can enclose a star in a Dyson sphere. It runs entirely client-side, needs no account, and saves to your browser. The game is in beta, so balance and late-game content still change between releases.

The loop, in order

1. Harvest. Send your swarm to the element sources visible from your current star. A fresh game starts on the Protostar with carbon alone; research unlocks the rest.
2. Refine. Matter moves up a five-tier production chain across twenty processed goods. Build the parts, then feed twenty identical units of one tier into a single unit of the next.
3. Automate. Spend stock on six upgrade branches — Swarm, Processing, Infrastructure, Elements, Dyson and Automation — so the system runs without you.
4. Ascend. Fund a Dyson sphere across seven build stages. Completing the shell opens the next stellar class.

Things that are easy to miss

• Storage is finite. Each source wells up into an on-site reserve, and anything past the cap is wasted — so keep the fleet hauling in step with the flow rather than leaving it idle.
• Research is a single slot. Only one survey runs at a time, and every other card is disabled until it finishes.
• Logistics is simulated, not instant. Bots travel, jobs are assigned and transfers are buffered, so distance between a source and a structure matters.
• Time away is simulated on return, so closing the tab is a strategy rather than a loss.

The star ladder

Ten star classes each reveal five or six new elements, for sixty in total. The order follows real nucleosynthesis rather than an invented tech tree: hydrogen and helium first, then the alpha-process elements, the iron peak from supernovae, and finally the s-process and r-process products. Later stars are born from richer gas, which is roughly how galactic chemical evolution works.

Common questions

Do I need an account to play NanoGenesis?

No. The game opens and saves locally without one. An account is only needed to sync a save between devices.

Does NanoGenesis work offline?

Yes. Once the page has loaded, or once you have installed it as an app, it plays without a connection and simulates the time you were away when you return.

What is the goal of NanoGenesis?

Enclose a star in a Dyson sphere. Doing so lets you ascend to the next stellar class, which unlocks new elements and carries permanent bonuses forward.

How does merging work?

Twenty identical units of one production tier combine into a single unit of the next tier. The five-tier chain is built around that ratio.

Is NanoGenesis free?

Yes. There are no ads, nothing is gated behind a purchase, and the game never asks for payment to continue. Optional boost packs exist for players who want to support development.

Where is my save stored?

In your browser's local storage. Clearing site data deletes it, which is why an optional account exists for cloud saves.