Candy Crush is Ruining Our Marriage!

“Candy Crush is Ruining Our Marriage!” That’s what my husband said in bed last night and when he caught me playing Candy Crush on my phone. So what is Candy Crush and what’s the big deal?

In case you’ve lived in a cave with no internet access, you’ve likely seen references to Candy Crush. This is an online, candy-themed Match-3 puzzle game in Facebook. There are three types of puzzle formats – clear the jelly, fill the order, and drop the ingredients. Match 3, 4, or 5 to help clear squares jelly, exploding drop, chocolate, and licorice. Hundreds of levels are already available and more are regularly being added.

What makes Candy Crush different from other games is that each section, also known as an ‘episode’, has a mini-story. These follow a little girl who randomly converses with game characters and promises to fix all their problems with candy. Bright colors, big eyes, and goofy smiles make these short bits cute and fun. Though the episodes don’t really make any sense, players can’t help but want to finish the levels to see how each part ends. Bouncy, peppy music accompany the game with a strange man’s voice exclaiming, “Sugar Crush!”, “Tasty!”, and “Delicious!” after specific moves.

Facebook Connection

You pretty much play on your own but having Facebook friends allows for some friendly competition, help in unlocking new episodes, and sharing of extra lives and moves. Lives are limited to five but refill after time. A few power-ups are initially provided but, later in the game, you either do without them or purchase them with real money.

Candy Crush can also be played on mobile devices. You can start over from scratch or connect your Facebook account to sync your progress. The main drawback of playing on a mobile device is that you miss out on the episode intros and endings, which is half of the fun. The intros can be seen again when playing through Facebook but the endings are left to your imagination if you’ve already passed the last level.

Overall Candy Crush Impression

If you don’t like puzzle games, you won’t like this. If you don’t want to lose friends, change your Facebook settings to not send out notifications and invites. If you need a mindless diversion for a few minutes here and there, give Candy Crush a try.

By the way, my husband was, of course, just kidding when he said Candy Crush was ruining our marriage. It is true that the simple Facebook game can be addicting though. Beware all ye puzzle gamers . . .