This guide will spoil art for the mini universes, but these universes do not contribute to the story and will not spoil anything in the main novel.
Universe for Sale is an amazing visual novel game that I gushed about in my review. However, one of the biggest cons I found in the game was deciphering what the universe requests meant. Some requests are super easy by just asking for fauna or metal alloys, but others can be a real head-scratcher. Even more so if you don’t know what the elements actually mean.
There are 42 combinations of worlds, each with its own unique art and story to go with them, so you’ll need to be futzing quite a while to find them all. This guide should help you if you’re feeling a bit lost.
If you’re looking for a specific recipe, hit ctrl+f and search the word you’re looking for. I’ve quoted the world descriptions verbatim, so you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for if the keyword is in the description. The requests may be based on visuals which is why they are included. You may have to look at the pictures with a fair bit of interpretation to see how they match the requests.
First off, let’s talk about the formula. You first pick a bowl; you start with two options and later can buy four more in the market. These are purely cosmetic and don’t skew the outcome.
Next, you pick two ingredients. You can double up on these, so keep that in mind. Example: Moss + Eggs or Moss + Moss.
Lastly, you choose a shape. The shape doesn’t matter unless someone specifically asks for a circular design but they seem to only ask for that in the main gameplay, not in this mini-game. What they’re really looking for is volume. If you add one drop to the sphere, it creates a different world than if you add the entire cup of liquid. Example: Eggs + Eggs with 1 addition is a different world to Eggs + Eggs with all the liquid.
Universe for Sale offers three pages of doodles to try and let you know what’s going on, but all you need to know is what the ingredients are and that volume matters.
Eggs = Life
Water = Water
Cristals = Energy
Moss = Fauna
Rust = Metal
Soot = Death
Table of Contents
Ignore the numbers on the images, that just reflects how much money I had at the time of taking the screen shots.
Eggs + Eggs – Small Volume
“In this universe, there are enormous animals, hundreds of meters in size. A rich fauna, but there is no kind of plant, animals feed on other creatures, minerals, and sunlight. Often, the largest animals end up becoming ecosystems in themselves, with parasites acting as fauna and flora.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Eggs + Eggs – Large Volume
“In this universe, animals are so large that they can be considered as self-standing planets. Each animal-planet has its unique ecology, with ecosystems that can include lakes, rivers, mountains, forests, and deserts. And they are also predators, wandering through space in search of asteroids and other planets to feed on.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Eggs + Soot – Small Volume
“A universe in which black holes are so numerous that they form a sort of interstellar “sea”. Interestingly, in this sea there are no planets or other starts outside of black holes. But there is a wide presence of life: small beings float around the black holes, feeding on the radiation they emit. “
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Eggs + Soot – Large Volume
“An universe in which black holes are so numerous that they form a sort of interstellar “sea”. In this sea, some living beings have developed that float around these black holes, feeding on the radiations they emit. In search of ever more energy, these beings have approached the event horizon more and more closely. After millions of years, they have even managed to enter the black holes, using them as bridges to travel to other universes. “
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
(Any typos are verbatim from the game at the time of review.)
Eggs + Cristals – Small Volume
“This universe is extremely rich in energy and teeming with life. It’s so energetic that living beings don’t need to eat or move for sustenance. In fact, they’re equipped to absorb everything they need from their surrounding environment, effortlessly floating and moving around. This fortune allows them to focus entirely on developing their intellect, acquiring telekinetic and metaphysical powers.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Eggs + Cristals – Large Volume
“This universe is extremely rich in energy and teeming with life. So energetic that living beings absorb their needs directly from the surrounding environment. This fortune allows them to focus entirely on the development of their intellect, acquiring telekinetic and metaphysical powers. They have thus created intergalactic civilizations that move on multiple planes of reality, with interdimensional interactions beyond our understanding.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Eggs + Moss – Small Volume
“In this universe, each planet is a super ecosystem, in which all life is interdependent and develops harmoniously. An intergalactic Garden of Eden, but where creatures are constantly in struggle for survival and dominance. A universe in which the laws of the jungle seem to be more important than those of physics itself.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Eggs + Moss – Large Volume
“In this universe, life is everywhere and diverse. There are not only animals and plants, but the universe is old enough to allow entire civilizations to evolve. Many planets host advanced civilizations, interstellar technologies, and travel through space to explore and trade with other civilizations. And of course, there are many wars, so gigantic that they even annihilate entire systems, but without affecting the omnipresent biodiversity.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Eggs + Water – Small Volume
“In this universe, most celestial objects, including planets and moons, are covered by large amounts of water. Every surface is covered by deep oceans, vast where life is abundant and diverse. Adapted to live in water, beings with gills to breathe and aquatic senses navigate through the darkness of the abyss.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Eggs + Water – Large Volume
“In this universe, all known planets are covered by vast expanses of water. The species that inhabit them have learned to survive and thrive in these vast marine extensions. Submarine cities, extraction platforms, and vehicles suitable for navigating the vast seas have been built. Even interstellar travel is developed for the sea, with spacecraft that do not land but dive directly into the oceans of other planets.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
(Any typos are verbatim from the game at the time of review.)
Eggs + Rust – Small Volume
“In this universe, iron is the dominant element, so abundant that even animals are entirely composed of it. There is no room for soft or delicate creatures, every being is made of metal and covered in rust and plates. Sharp and deadly plates, weapons with which predators and prey fight in glittering deserts.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Eggs + Rust – Large Volume
“In this universe, iron is the dominant element, so abundant that all creatures are composed of it. Plants, animals, and intelligent beings are all composed of solid and glittering metal alloys. It is a harsh universe where the rule of the strongest prevails, with civilizations often at war with each other to build and conquer increasingly incredible outposts. It is a universe with incredible places, with giant steel architectures that triumph over majestic and glittering cities.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Soot + Soot – Small Volume
“This universe is going through its last days… There are no stars, any planet or piece of rock orbits around massive black holes. Without any source of luminous energy, the universe is completely dark. There is no cycle of life, no birth or death.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Soot + Soot – Large Volume
“This universe is… dead. There are no stars, planets or any form of life, black holes are the only objects present, surrounded by darkness of cosmic void. Without any source of luminous energy, the universe is completely dark, there is no kind of life cycle, birth, and death. Everything has been absorbed by black holes, preventing the creation of new chemical elements, decreeing the death of the universe.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Soot + Cristals – Small Volume
“This universe is incredibly dense and full of energy. Energy that causes a high presence of supermassive black holes, as many as the stars in our universe. So many that solar systems do not have a sun at the center, but a black hole, with the stars orbiting around it. An inhospitable cosmos, in short.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Soot + Cristals – Large Volume
“An ancient, highly energetic universe with a constant presence of supernovae. It is an incredible spectacle with stellar explosions constantly lighting up the sky. In fact, there is no place in the universe where night can fall, because the stars in the sky are so bright that they match the sun. But, of course, no one could directly see this spectacle, as the many radiations make life impossible.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Soot + Moss – Small Volume
“In this universe, black holes dominate the night sky, while every planet is covered by a uniform layer of moss. Moss seems to be the only type of life that can survive in such a hostile and destructive environment. Darkness and destruction of black holes dominate the universe, while moss is a sort of indifferent survivor. A world where the monotony of moss is the only contrasting element in an otherwise ruthless universe.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Soot + Moss – Large Volume
“In this ancient universe, black holes are omnipresent. Curious planets orbit around them, covered by a dense layer of green moss, so much that it replaces a good portion of the star’s mass. It looms so much over it that the planet can be defined as a huge mushroom, an immense fungus that, during the appropriate period, releases its spores into space. These spores traverse the black holes, likely going to colonize other universes.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Soot + Water – Small Volume
“A universe in which black holes are so numerous that they form a sort of interstellar “sea.” Planets drift as if swimming, covered by their own oceans. These marine planets are surrounded by a nebula of gas and dust, generated by the surrounding black holes. The matter that is swallowed by the black holes is strongly heated, producing intense X-rays and radiation.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Soot + Water – Large Volume
“An ancient universe, in which only colossal black holes that devour everything are present. All planets have been swallowed, but there remains a great amount of water that the universe is extremely rich in. This is why around black holes there are no planets orbiting, but rather water rings that flow fast, like multidimensional waterfalls. Thanks to the radiation of the black holes, even life has formed in these waterfalls, in shy marine ecosystems without any land to support them.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Soot + Rust – Small Volume
“This is a dense universe where iron is among the dominant elements. Black holes dominate interstellar space, swallowing anything larger than a toaster. A void cosmos, where only a layer of silver astral dust remains, illuminated by the radiation of the black holes around which it swirls. A universe that has never been alive, but still possess something precious and admirable.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Soot + Rust – Large Volume
“This is a universe that is dense, where iron is among the dominant elements. Black holes dominate the interstellar void, around which orbit masses of molten iron, heated by the radiation from the event horizon. Farther away, incredible metallic structures form after cooling, shaped by billions of years of gravitational deformation. Geometries that seem intentionally built by a mad architect, which are actually solitary manifestations of nature for their own sake.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Cristals + Cristals – Small Volume
“This is a very hot universe, where suns and supernovae are omnipresent, marking the beginning and end of stars. A cruel place, where every star is destined to explode and destroy everything around it. An ephemeral cosmos where life is only a transitory exception in a universe dominated by the impermanence of stars.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Cristals + Cristals – Large Volume
“An elderly universe in perpetual explosion, with extremely high temperatures and stars constantly being born and exploding. In this energy-filled environment, a kind of life has developed, beings made of light that vibrate in empty space. They are practically pure energy but with consciousness, unconcerned with the destruction that surrounds them.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Cristals + Moss – Small Volume
“This universe is so energetic that plants shoot laser beams. These creatures use the refraction of the extremely powerful light emitted by titanic suns to generate these beams. They use both to hunt and to communicate with each other, creating surreal and fascinating environment of sounds and colors. “
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Cristals + Moss – Large Volume
“This universe is extremely energetic, so much so that even plants are imbued with it. The flora is so powerful that it dominates any other form of life, taking control of planets. These plants then organize themselves to absorb the energy of the stars and direct it onto nearby planets with enormous beams of light. The reason escapes me, but it must be some kind of exchange of nutrients or information, a sort of interplanetary communication.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Cristals + Water – Small Volume
“This universe is extremely dense and rich in energy. All the planets are entirely covered by a luminous fluid, which vibrates and moves as if it were alive. From this incandescent sea, shapes and structures grow, which interact with each other in a frenzied and difficult-to-interpret way. Interactions similar to those of an ecosystem, fauna and flora, predators and prey, all composed of the same luminous material.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Cristals + Water – Large Volume
“This universe is ancient, extremely dense and rich in energy. All planets are entirely covered by a luminous fluid, which vibrates and moves as if it were alive. On the surface, complex structures form, shapes resembling plants, animals, and even humans, which interact with each other as if they were separate organisms. From simple organize-like interactions, over time complex social relationships and civilizations have developed, all originating from the same energetic fluid. “
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Cristals + Rust – Small Volume
“This universe is extremely energetic and destructive. The planets are scorching and shrouded in a dense toxic haze. Volcanoes constantly spew jets of lava and poisonous gas. The seas are made of acid and the mountains are made of radioactive materials. There is nothing alive in this hostile and inhospitable environment, only rocks, magma, and ash.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Cristals + Rust – Large Volume
“This universe is extremely old, but far from the concept of entropy, in fact, it is incredibly energetic and destructive. Here the heat is so high that the planets are all constantly incandescent, shining with their own light like small stars. So hot that in some of them, a nuclear process also occurs, just like inside a sun.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Moss + Moss – Small Volume
“In this universe, flora has taken an excessive amount of space, and every planet is covered by vigorous forests. Forests so dense that trees must grow excessively tall to overtake their neighbors and reach the sunlight. Individual plants reach incredible heights, even reaching kilometers in height. “
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Moss + Moss – Large Volume
“In this ancient universe, plants have taken total dominion, growing so much that they have taken the place of the planets themselves. Individual plants are cells of a gigantic organism, planets that look like huge flowers, with clumps of pollen as moons. In a universe like this, solar systems resemble intergalactic flowery meadows.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Moss + Water – Small Volume
“In this universe, every planet is covered by a uniform layer of moss, a sort of green invasion. There are no more deserts or harsh landscapes, only a mossy monotony that extends infinitely. Almost devoid of personality, as if it was created by an uninspired architect. “
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Moss + Water – Large Volume
“In this universe, every planet is covered by a uniform layer of moss, a sort of omnipresent green invasion. A mossy monotony that stretches to infinity, but which has come to life after billions of years. In the midst of this green carpet, small civilizations have grown hidden among the mushrooms. Tiny beings that use fungi as homes, peacefully populating entire systems.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Moss + Rust – Small Volume
“This universe has a high presence of iron, so high that even the plants are entirely composed of it. The planets are covered in this metallic flora, which through its sparkling leaves, absorbs and reflects light at the same time. Creating curious reflections, projections of colors that seem to distort reality itself. Here, the metal seems to have a life of its own, as if it were an organism in continuous growth and transformation. “
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Moss + Rust – Large Volume
“This universe has a high presence of iron, so high that even the plants are composed of it. After billions of years, these plants have expanded over the entire surface of the planets they inhabit, completely wrapping them. This iron-rich flora reflects and absorbs the light and heat of the stars, thus transforming the planets into enormous sparking solar panels.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Water + Water – Small Volume
“This universe is… cold. The planets are covered by a layer of ice or snow, and liquid water is practically absent. The processes that create light and heat are not present, there are no supernova explosions or other forms of energy. There is a lot silence, as sound waves need a medium to propagate and the cold gases are too thin to carry them.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Water + Water – Large Volume
“This universe is cold and terribly old. White dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes are the last remnants of a universe long retired. Time itself has lost meaning, the universe is approaching the final state of heat death, where all energy dissipates. “
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Water + Rust – Small Volume
“In this universe, planets are cold and lifeless, and their surfaces are covered in rust. There is no atmosphere to protect from lethal cosmic rays or create a comfortable climate. They are barren and desolate planets, where there is nothing to do but observe the landscape made of rocks and dust. It would be a perfect universe for those who want to escape from the world and isolate themselves. “
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Water + Rust – Large Volume
“This is a cold and static universe, the surface of the planets is covered in rust and devoid of life. Although it may not seem like an inviting place to live, after billions of years, something seems to have managed to grow underground. Beneath the surface of the planets, closer to the heat of the core and to liquid water, shy life forms have formed. Creatures that over time have evolved, digging tunnels and creating hidden civilizations, much like mole people.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Rust + Rust – Small Volume
“In this universe, practically the only material present is metal, which appears in different forms and compositions. Even the planets are entirely made of metal and appear as giant sparkling spheres floating in space. Amusing to look at, but with nothing else but metal, this universe is quite boring.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Rust + Rust – Large Volume
“In this universe, practically the only material present is metal, which appears in different forms and compositions. After billions of years, the extreme density of iron has torn the fabric of space-time, creating numerous black holes. Planets and other celestial bodies swirl around them, compacting thanks to gravitational forces that have molded them over centuries. Over time, this universe has transformed into an immense field of marbles, bouncing back and forth, gradually falling into the black holes.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
Two Ingredients – No Shape Change
“This poor universe didn’t have enough time to begin. There’s no point in time where we can say that the universe was born, because time itself hasn’t had a chance to manifest. A cosmic stasis in which there is no movement, variation, change, and therefore there is no concept of time.”
Image/Text: Universe for Sale / Tmesis Studio / Akupara Games
If you’re going for the achievement that is rewarded from seeing all the worlds, don’t forget that there is one outcome from not adding liquid. (I’m not sure it counts since I discovered it before completing the worlds, but just to be safe, I thought I’d mention it.) Just leaving the one drop and viewing it results in an additional 43rd world – or absence of world. It’s worth doing because you get a cute little ‘404’ hidden in the specks of the image.
Hopefully this guide helps you if you hit a snag playing Universe for Sale, it’s an amazing game and I had a lot of fun with it.
Other Articles
Review: Universe for Sale tells an engaging story I couldn’t put down
[…] only thing that really stalls is the universe making part and I’ve written up a guide that should help with most, if not all the […]
Great guide, it’s very helpful! Just wanted mention that customers can now ask for specific shapes.
I know Bandar asks for a universe in the shape of an L, another orangutan asks for a banana, and one lady asks for “two eyes”, which was really hard to figure out until I realized she wanted the shape of two eyes. I hope this helps anyone who reads this!