Candy Crush Saga – Mobile Game Review

Candy Crush Saga is one of the most played games on mobile devices around the world. There is some skill involved in gameplay, but it is entirely soaked in and plastered with monetization schemes.

You may also buy some extra moves in the game, these action moves can assist you, but they don’t make it impossible to finish the game.

What is Candy Crush Saga in your opinion and understanding?

King is the publisher of Candy Crush Saga, a mobile game in which users navigate through a map of thousands of levels and receive goodies upon completion. The various levels fall into episodes, similar to how a board game works. Every season comes with its own focus and set scenery. Though the game does not require a fee to play, users have the option to buy boosters and other bonus items via micro purchases.

The game’s initial stages are simple and designed in such a way that they are almost unbelievably easy in order to provide gamers with a sense of accomplishment and start building confidence. These initial stages also use bright colors and attractive music to appeal and increase the desirability of the experience and occasion to the user.

In the latter stages of the game, various levels start appearing and they require more thought and action to be completed. Such levels tend to include Easter eggs that are random combinations of both incentives and disincentives. Players can get a reward in form of special candy or they may be punished by getting stuck in molasses traps.

The mini races help to nurture the competitive spirit in the players where they are able to compete with their friends in order to reach the level first. These events are a good means of promoting exchanging social relations. Also, the game employs Social Treasures (Game Technique #63) which enables players to present spare lives or special candies to other friends at no cost to them.

How to Play

The mobile gaming platform Candy Crush Saga was created and released on November 12, 2012 by the British company King. It is one of the best tablet and smartphone puzzle games in history. It runs on mobile and rescues iOS, Android and MS Windows. Enjoying the game is free of charge while a selection of in game items can be purchased for a fee.

In the game, each level is a grid of different shape with cells filled with an assortment of two to six types of colored candies and a number of other components also referred to as blockers. One way of playing is swapping the blocks so as to line up three or more blocks of the same color together and remove them whenever the colored blocks change positions. When more than four blocks are matched up, they convert into special blocks that have an enhanced capability to annihilate all of the same colored blocks on the board.

Players pass levels by completing increasingly complex puzzles. Each level has an objective which the gamer has to accomplish within a given number of moves. There are also special conditions that have to be fulfilled such as getting only certain fruits or excluding bad ones. The game has a leaderboard for the players with the most points.

Game mechanics

The main aim of the game is to swap pieces in order to have three or more of the same colored pieces in a straight line. It is such a simple concept that any very small child can comprehend, and is easily done by a click on the screen.

In addition to the important mechanics, there are also a lot of bright colors, lovely sounds, and the phone vibrating, which is very rewarding for purpose of the game. It enhances the enjoyment players get from Candy Crush Saga, greatly contributing to its success.

In addition, Candy Crush Saga gradually adds elements that are new to the game. For instance, a level may end after a certain time frame but does not end the task as new elements to achieve may be unlocked later in the level. This variation makes the game new and fun and encourages players to engage in strategic thinking on how to achieve each level.

The game has in addition different types of special candies which when combined result in each candy exploding in a different way and this is a good way to boost the player score(s) with the exception of move levels. Further, the game has a certain number of lives as a standard which the player is able to gain by completing a certain level which can be extended to gold purchasing or seeking help from friends.

Freemium model

Freemium is a particular type of business strategy where basic versions of a product are free but advanced features are paid for. This strategy helps the companies reach a huge number of users and gain brand loyalty. It also enables to make sales through cross selling or even upgrade selling. Freemium models are widely used for software and games since they lower the customer acquisition cost and increase revenues fast.

Though this method has its advantages it has to be done with great care and continuous advancement. Free users shift the stress on resource requirements which include customer support services and server space. Additionally, when the time passes, the conversion rate might not be as good as it used to be when the product was first used.

Tapping into a vast demographic with a freemium service that enables you to spend very little while marketing or offering a premium service to your customers is a clever business strategy. For instance, you could consider Spotify, as engaging as it is, they stand to benefit more from a pre-roller version than the ads free variant so they grab users with a non raid version. Using a slightly different approach Basecamp does the same by giving free accounts only to the extent of showing what it is capable of and most users are compelled to upgrade.

Final Words

For four years now, mobile games have grown tremendously and one of the best examples is Candy Crush Saga. It’s easy and addictive and that only makes it easier to appreciate why there are so many levels.

The level design of the game is quite good as well, and they are both solvable and challenging. Sometimes you could be frustrated while trying to complete them instead of being actively amused. Sometimes the game will add jelly-filled squares that can only be cleared when matched or will make the Cubes shifts onto new parts of the puzzle.

Perhaps, the most frustrating feature of the game is the advertisements showing 10-second stills with a voiceover of a eager young lady and oral narrations, which are quite untasteful. And especially when the game commercials are placed right in the center of the screen which is really annoying.

Many children certainly will get tempted by its sweet and candy like design but, make no mistake, Candy Crush Saga is an intricate game that will consume money and time if the players become addicted. The only way would be to stay strong and never give in to the urge of playing it.