Coop Co's main currency is $$$ which is generated based off the egg's value, current chicken count and egg laying rate.

The main upgrade system of Coop Co is the standard Common Research which is purchased with $$$, and costs increase quite rapidly at some point you may be able to automate its purchasing.

Prestige is the first main reset of the game that unlocks at Rocket Fuel Eggs, Prestige rewards Soul Eggs on reset which can be used in Epic Researches and they provide a special earnings boost based off of best Prestige rewards Soul Eggs and current Prestige rewards Soul Eggs.

Epic Research is the second set of researches in game, they provide special permanent bonuses, automation for boring tasks and QoL things to keep you sane at the cost of Soul Eggs

Eggspeditions add 6 discoverable planets each with their own egg, special challenge and boost reward, it is recommended to start with the Chicken Gain Boost planet first as the price to discover planets increases rapidly.

Contracts are a simple system they force a reset on your farm and you're stuck in the contract's assigned egg until you reach the $$$ goal, upon successfully completing a contract you will recieve Prophecy Eggs which boost contract rewards, difficulty and provide a massive multiplicative boost to Soul Eggs.

Coop Co achievements are the best way to keep track of your progress through the game, they don't provide any boosts or special unlocks (for now) but they give a "sense" of accomplishment.

Ascension is the 2nd major reset of Coop Co and it resets all previous progress in the game in exchange for Knowleggs (funny egg pun), which can be used for the next tier of research, Legendary Research. Don't be dismayed if you don't see anything in Ascension yet as you progress through the research you'll unlock more new content & QoL features.

Legendary Research much like Epic Research, gives special permanent bonuses, Automators and QoL Upgrades in exchange for your precious Knowleggs.

Artifacts are unlocked later in Ascension as you've now noticed. Artifacts are gained through Harvesting the planets you Unlocked during Eggspeditions. Constructing & Upgrading Harvesters costs the chickens from its specific planet. Low level harvesters can only find the lowest quality artifacts but as they get upgraded you will get higher yields and better artifacts. As well your low tier artifacts can be used to craft higher tier artifacts. Now a note most Artifacts do not work on the Enlightenment Egg but there is a way to allow them to work on that Egg you'll unlock it later.

So you've gotten your first few artifacts and now you're probably wondering what do I do with these? Well look no further, The reliquary is mostly simple you have 4 slots to insert artifacts into. Artifacts provide their boosts only when they are in a Artifact Slot, and most artifacts will not provide their boosts when you're on the enlightenment egg. Once you get Tier 2 artifacts a smaller slot next the artifact slot will unlock, this is a gem slot. Gems provide boosts and allow for artifacts to work on the enlightenment egg if you slot the right one. Once you unlock Tier 2 Artifacts & Basic Gems you'll unlock 3 loadouts and a stats page for your reliquary.

Gems are the last things you'll unlock during Ascension, they are quite powerful as unlike Artifacts you can use as many of any kind of Gem as you want as long as you have enough of them stored. Now obviously to balance the highest tier Gems are very expensive, but you'll get there! Now a quirk of Gems is much like artifacts they don't work on the Enlightenment Egg unless they are attached to an Artifact that directly affects the Enlightenment Egg.