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Candy Crush Saga

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Candy Crush Saga
App icon
Developer(s)King
Platform(s)Facebook (Adobe Flash), iOS, Android
ReleaseFacebook:
April 12, 2012
iOS:
November 14, 2012
Android:
December 14, 2012
Genre(s)Puzzle

Candy Crush Saga is a match-three puzzle video game released by the developer King on April 12, 2012 for Facebook, and on November 14, 2012 as a mobile app for smartphones. As of March 2013, Candy Crush Saga surpassed FarmVille 2 as the most popular game on Facebook, with 46 million average monthly users.[1][2] According to Business Insider, it is also the most downloaded iOS app for 2013.[3] It is a variation on their browser game Candy Crush.[4] A major expansion to the game called "Dreamworld" was launched on November 27, 2013.

The game is periodically updated, adding new "episodes" and playable levels; new levels are updated first on Facebook followed by Android and iPhone. Candy Crush Saga has "episodes" of 15 levels each (the first two "episodes" have only 10 levels). An update to the game in November 2013 added the "Dreamworld" levels, giving players the opportunity to replay older levels with a new mechanic, which is also periodically updated. As of November 2014, the Facebook edition has 755 regular levels and 485 Dreamworld levels.

Gameplay

Candy Crush Saga game play example on iOS, with candy, striped candies, jelly, chains, and chocolate.

General

This game is a variation of match-three games such as Bejeweled. Each level has a game board filled with differently colored candies, and might contain obstacles. These different colors include the red jelly bean, the orange lozenge, the yellow lemon drop, green chiclets, the blue lollipop head, and the purple cluster. The basic move of this game is horizontally or vertically swapping the positions of two adjacent candies, to create sets of three (or more) candies of the same color. Each level contains a certain objective that must be completed in a given number of moves (or on a time limit); some levels require clearing "jelly" off the board by making matches on top of them, reaching a certain score, getting ingredient items to the bottom of the board, or having to clear certain amounts or combinations of candies. Levels may also contain blocks to make them more difficult, such as meringue or liquorice swirls, chocolate (which spreads across the board if left uncleared), bombs (which end the level if they are not matched before they go off), multi-layered icing blocks (with tin plates as the last layers), and others. Boosters can be earned or purchased to provide assistance during levels. In computational complexity theory, Candy Crush Saga (along with many other similar match three games) were proven to be NP-hard.[5][6]

In a secondary campaign known as the "Dreamworld", an additional mechanic is introduced where players play earlier levels but also must maintain a balance on a moon-shaped scale throughout the level. Players must control their matches of two certain colors of candies so the scale does not become entirely unbalanced, causing Dreamworld's mascot owl Odus to fall off the moon. However, filling up the moon scale and keeping it balanced for a certain number of moves will activate the Moon Struck event, causing either one or both of the colors of matching candies to be removed from the board completely, and the player is given a certain number of moves to perform until the scale is reset with two new colors.

Candy

Different "special candies" can be formed by matching a combination of 4 or 5 in a certain formation, such as a "Striped" candy (which clears either an entire row or column), a "Wrapped" candy (which acts like a bomb; clearing the 8 surrounding candies, falling, and exploding one more time), or a "Color Bomb" (which removes all candies with the same color of the one it is matched with). Special Candies can also be matched together, producing varying effects; for example, matching a color bomb with a striped candy turns all of the candies of its color into striped candies, which are immediately detonated.

Other special candies which appear on the boards for free can be purchased from the in-game store, or won from the Candy Crush Booster Wheel. These include Jelly Fish in jelly clearing boards which clear 3 pieces from the board at random, the Coconut Wheel on ingredient dropping boards which changes three candies in a row into striped candies, and Lucky Candy in recipe boards which when matched change to one of the types of pieces the player needs to clear the objective. The Booster Wheel also offers a chance to win a jackpot of all boosters in one spin. Other pieces known as Blockers appear on boards to add to the challenge: Icing (also called Meringues) cannot be moved and can only be removed by matching next to it, Liquorice Locks cage off single pieces of candy to prevent them from use, Chocolate pieces will multiply if not cleared, Liquorice Swirls cannot be easily removed with Special Candies, Candy Bombs will explode and end the level early if they are not cleared, Multilayered Icing requires multiple matches to remove, Chocolate Spawners will produce Chocolate pieces at all times, Marmalade guards Special Candies from use, Cake Bombs can clear the entire board once cleared, and Toffee Tornadoes move on the board destroying pieces and shattering the tile beneath them to prevent use for one turn. Other pieces also appear on levels such as Chameleon Candies which switch colors every turn, Mystery Candies which randomly turn into a Special Candy or a Blocker, and Extra Time Candies on time limit levels.

The player can also purchase various Boosters to attempt to win levels more easily or extend play after a lost level; Lollipop Hammer clears a single piece from the board, Extra Moves can be purchased if running out of moves at the end of a game, Free Switch allows players to switch two pieces that do not possibly match, Sweet Teeth to clear out Blockers and Jelly, Bomb Coolers to add onto Candy Bomb timers if the timer runs out, and the Bubblegum Troll to stop Chocolate Spawners from spawning chocolate from its sides. The Dreamworld levels have their own special boosters: the Restore Balance booster to reset the Moon Scale for 5 turns and the Moon Struck booster to automatically activate Moon Struck.

Lives

The game is primarily monetized through in-app purchases (through either a credit card or Facebook Credits); players begin with five "lives", lost whenever a level is failed. This applies to all King games. When they are exhausted, users can either send requests to their Facebook friends for more lives, wait for them to replenish themselves (a life is restored every half-hour), or purchase them. At certain points, primarily at the start of new "episodes", users must also either purchase, or receive a request from at least three friends before they may access the next set of levels. Boosters can also be bought using cash or Facebook credits.[7]

Passing episodes

Once all levels in an episode are completed, the next episode (starting at episode 3) is locked and the player must either get three friends on Facebook to send them "tickets" to unlock the next episode, it can be unlocked directly through the in-game store, or occasionally the game will allow the player to move on for free if the player has not been able to unlock the next area. If the game is not linked to the player's Facebook account, a new level can be unlocked by playing a Mystery Quest, a random previous level with a higher point threshold for winning. Three Mystery Quests must be completed before the next episode is unlocked, and a player can only complete one Mystery Quest in a single 24-hour period.

Characters

File:Odus and Dreamworld level.png
A Dreamworld level in the Facebook version of the game, featuring Odus the owl sleeping on the Moon Scale.

Throughout the game, the player solves puzzles so Tiffi (short for Toffette) can solve problems plaguing the residents of the Candy Kingdom. These include tutorial guide Mr. Toffee, whose voice was changed from an over-the-top French accent in the original version of the game into a more modest deep male voice,[8] the Easter Bunny, the shop owner Mr. Yeti, Odus the owl from Dreamworld levels, the villainous Bubblegum Troll, and many others.

Popularity

Candy Crush Saga had over ten million downloads in December 2012 alone.[9] In July 2013, it was estimated that Candy Crush Saga at the time had about 6.7 million active users and earned revenue of $633,000 per day in the US section of the iOS App Store alone.[10] In November 2013, the game had been installed 500 million times across Facebook and iOS and Android devices.[11]

Candy Crush received particular mention in Hong Kong media, with reports that one in seven Hong Kong citizens plays the game.[12] The game is also featured in Psy's music video "Gentleman".[13] In December 2013, King entered the Japanese market with a series of television commercials in Japan, and by December 4 it had become the 23rd most downloaded game in Japan on Android devices and number 1 most downloaded from the App Store.[14]

Even though the app was released in late 2012, Candy Crush Saga players spent $790.1 million within the game in the first six months of 2014.

Reception

According to review aggregating website Metacritic, the game received an average review score of 79/100, indicating generally positive reviews.[15] Ellie Gibson of Eurogamer referred to Candy Crush Sagahentai as 2013's "Game of the Year".[16]

Sequel

In May 2014, a sequel titled Candy Crush Soda Saga was released as a soft launch by King, with a similar design but new gameplay dynamics, such as a soda bottle piece that can shift gravity.[17][18] As of November 2014, there are 120 "Candy Crush Soda Saga" levels.

On October 20, 2014, the Facebook version of Candy Crush Soda Saga was widely released[19] and the mobile app was released in mid November.[20][21][22]

References

  1. ^ San Francisco Chronicle Thursday, March 28, 2013 Business Report "Tech Chronicles" Page C2
  2. ^ "Application Analytics for Facebook, iOS and Android". AppData. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
  3. ^ "Top 10 downloaded ios apps 2013". Mix Top Ten News. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  4. ^ "Candy Crush browser game".
  5. ^ T. Walsh (2014). "Candy Crush is NP-Hard".
  6. ^ L. Gualà, S. Leucci, E. Natale (2014). "Bejeweled, Candy Crush and other Match-Three Games are NP-Hard".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Sugar Coma". Slate. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  8. ^ "BBC News - What is the appeal of Candy Crush Saga?". Bbc.com. 2013-12-18. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  9. ^ Woollaston, Victoria (14 May 2013). "Candy Crush Saga soars above Angry Birds to become WORLD'S most popular game". Daily Mail. London: Associated Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  10. ^ Joe White (2013-07-09). "Freemium App Candy Crush Saga Earns A Record-Breaking $633,000 Each Day". AppAdvice. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  11. ^ Webster, Andrew (15 November 2013). "Half a billion people have installed 'Candy Crush Saga'". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  12. ^ Buffa, Chris. "Candy Crush Saga: Played By Every Seventh Person In Hong Kong Daily". Modojo.
  13. ^ Brian Ashcraft (17 April 2013). "Is PSY's "Gentleman" Video Just a Giant Commercial?". Kotaku.com. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
  14. ^ Grubb, Jeffrey (6 December 2013). "King is running TV commercials for Candy Crush in Japan, and they're working". GamesBeat. VentureBeat. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  15. ^ "Candy Crush Saga for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  16. ^ Gibson, Ellie (24 December 2013). "Games of 2013: Candy Crush Saga". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  17. ^ "Candy Crush Game Maker Banks on Soda Saga Sequel". Hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
  18. ^ "Candy Crush Soda Saga, the sequel to Candy Crush Saga, got soft-launched on Android". phonearena.com.com. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  19. ^ Candy Crush Soda Saga: will it pop King's app store bubble? Retrieved on 26th October 2014.
  20. ^ "Can't get Enough of 'Candy Crush'? Say Hello to 'Candy Crush Soda Saga'". Tech Times. Retrieved on 15th November 2014.
  21. ^ "'Candy Crush Soda Saga' from King Finally Launches Worldwide". Touch Arcade. Retrieved in 15th November 2014.
  22. ^ "Candy Crush Maker Launches Sequel to Hit Mobile Game". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on 15th November 2014.
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