App-tastic: Candy Crush Soda Saga, When you thought it couldn't get any sweeter
I have an addiction, I admit it. Candy Crush teaches me nothing and wastes my time, but I can’t stop playing it. I’m not alone in my addiction. About 45 million people play Candy Crush on Facebook each month, making it the most popular game on the site. It’s the most downloaded mobile game on both Android and Apple devices, and it’s the top-grossing mobile app.
Candy Crush is both simple and evil all at the same time. Players must move around the pieces to line up three of the same type in a row. There are a few complications involving fruits, nuts, and jelly, other than that it is pretty straight forward. All the hundreds of levels represent different challenges but the game play itself remains the same: Line up at least three candies of the same color, click, and repeat until you’re crying from frustration. It’s that simplistic ease that makes it so addictive.
There’s no prize in the game beyond the satisfaction of hoping that your cherry-shifting skills are better than those of all the other Toms, Dicks, and Harrys who are struggling with Level 34 or whatever level you have made it to. On Facebook, however, it’s a crusher-vs.-crusher competition. You’re shown how your scores compare with those of your friends. I imagine this is meant as a sort of push to better your status. This evidently works because I keep coming back! I am personally on Level 668.
Yes, I have a problem. And the creators of Candy Crush just made my addiction worse. The Candy Crush family just expanded with the addition of the new game Candy Crush Soda Saga. There are new power-ups, different ways to combine candy pieces (I'm still getting used to being able to make a square). Some levels slowly fill with carbonated beverage as they progress, changing the direction pieces settle when matches are made — sometimes up to down, sometimes down to up, and sometimes side-to-side. There are candy necklaces to rise above, gummy bears to uncover and much more. I've barely made a dent in the levels; Level 18 is my new nemesis. In fact, I am struggling a bit. It's quite different, yet still the same. I am finding it just as addicting, if not more so because it is new and slightly different.
So here I am, crushing away in both apps. Through the sugar highs and defeated lows, I can’t put it down. I am a happy, Candy Crush addict.
