The Daily Candy Crushing Saga

‘Bring down all the ingredients to the bottom’, easier said than done Candy Crush. More to the point why do I care if I don’t break all the jelly or score the required points in a limited time, what has made this relatively common match 3 game so addictive to so many users?

The answer is that it is not so common. On the face of it Candy Crush Saga looks like any other match 3 game like gem drop but this mobile game has seen success way beyond the likes of ‘Where’s my Water’ and ‘Subway Surfers’. I hope to break down in this piece how it has done this:

• Simplicity. The basic controls of this game opens it up to a wide audience of all abilities and all backgrounds. It’s simplicity is what also makes it addictive as the game seems so easy so why can’t I break this damn jelly in 40 moves. The simplicity of the game allows for minimal concentration so can be played any time, anywhere, and in any mood.

• Difficulty. The game has a gentle progression but manages to keep interest without the user becoming bored as those simple levels are surpassed in seconds and the harder levels keep you coming back for the challenge. Once reaching past level 30 most mobile games would reach their capacity for challenging gameplay, but with innovative level challenges relatively unseen by other games of this genre it maintains a constant hold of everyone’s inner competitor and achiever.

• Innovative game elements. As mentioned these give the game the longevity which has led to it becoming such as huge success. Features like the chocolate squares, the bomb candies, the various super candies created by combining candies in a specific way, and many others may sounds like gobbledigook to someone who has never played this game, but to players like me they bring back memories of great frustration, concentration, and success.
  

  Now I just need to combine the stripy one with the dotted one

• Strategy. Candy combinations in the game which are created when matching 4 candies, 5 candies or matching 2 sets of 3 candies in a single move allows the player to use certain power up combinations. This careful matching not just 3 in a match 3 game gives the gameplay a feeling of strategy in a very random and chance based game.

• Social. Surpassing a friend who is stuck on a certain level which you have just passed gives the user a kind of bragging power which I guess is especially prominent in the playground and amongst kids always wanting to compete and one up each other. But strangely I also think it works with adults as well. Seeing a friend or a stronger playing the game on the tube and seeing them stuck on level 78 when you have just passed level 141 gives the user a sense of false achievement. The successes mean nothing in the real world but once we start crushing candies we all find ourselves regressing to the competitive child inside all of us.

• No need for payment. Free to play games often have micro transactions forcing the player to pay to receive more of the game or complete in game tasks. While candy crush saga has this it also gives the player a choice to continue without playing and simply receive help from friends via Facebook to continue much like we saw in games like ‘Farmville’. This option gives the game creators ‘King’ just what they need in either choice, money or referrals and social media sharing.

• Time delay. Limiting players to 5 lives which only regenerate one life every half an hour gives an extra level of frustration and retention to the game which makes users come back to the game several times in a day just to break more candies.
  

  Cue enraged expression

• Addiction. Enough said to anyone who has played this game and to anyone who hasn’t it’s like entering a competition and working really hard and at the last hurdle falling and being given not the bronze medal but 4th. Except in Candy Crush Saga you win or you lose there is no 2nd, 3rd or 4th place.

Many mobile game developers are now looking for the secret of Candy Crush’s success and trying to rake in the many thousands that this game has addicted to the ever so sweet but highly frustrating candy.

Using these game elements in combination again in another mobile game with not give competitors the success they crave. Why? Because as with many things marketing plays a huge role in the success of a game like Candy Crush or Minecraft or PSY who all seemed to come out of nowhere and take the market by storm. Using Facebook as its  start up vehicle and riding with success from Facebook players, they combined social media advertising, TV advertising, and the runaway train that is social media referrals by its users they managed to jump into a gap in the market and start candy crushing away.

But with numbers of players dropping it will be interesting to see what new innovations King come up with to keep players in the world of Candy Crush Saga or make them Play, Start, and Select the next big thing in mobile and social gaming.

But what do you think is the secret to this King’s success in Candy Crush Saga?