The game has an end, and you can get there in a much more reasonable amount of time.
It is not at all clear that every hypothetical AGI would do as you say. It’s fiction. Anything can happen.
In fact, this AGI almost definitely wouldn’t accept the simulation offer. Otherwise our protagonist would have been making simulations and resetting them instead of doing the hard work of turning the actual universe into paperclips.
Make paperclip.
(You may already know that from reading the article or playing the game, but it's not clear from your comment.)
I suspect I misread your comment in that case, so I apologize. Though if everyone else did as well, perhaps the comment was ambiguous?
> or misremembering the end of the game.
Exactly, there is a point that is pretty clearly "the end of the game". The fact that one can continue playing after that point doesn't make it less of an ending.
The end of the game is something a human player reaches and is satisfied with their work. A paperclip producing AI would not choose a path that results in no more paperclips being made.
If it got the goal to make as many paperclips in this universe, the game can end in-universe as well.
(You are of course free to think and write how you please, but attributing all comprehension errors to readers may limit the reach of your writing.)
"It is impossible to speak in such a way that it cannot be misinterpreted." -- Karl Popper