Candy Crush Saga: an introduction

I never thought I would review a game here, but since a good friend began playing the web-based version of Candy Crush, I decided to check out the Android version, Candy Crush Saga. I rarely play games on my android devices merely because they tend to destroy battery longevity and the graphics are often sub par, but when it comes to

Made by King, Candy Crush Saga (CCS) is like a combination between Angry Birds and Bejeweled, a slight extension on the web-based version. I've used the comparison of Angry Birds because of the progression and scoring system in Candy Crush Saga. You won't be throwing candy at birds or vise versa in CCS.

I can't fully review the game here as I have yet to make more than a dent in the progress chain, but the if the tutorial is any help, I can probably estimate how the rest of the game will be.  Like Bejeweled, there are several point scoring techniques, and I will not describe them all because there are so many, but here are some of the basics

• Any 3 clears
• Any 4 clears and returns a striped candy
• Any 3 from 2 directions clears and returns a packaged candy
• Any 5 clears and returns a sprinkled candy
• Any 2 striped, both vertical and horizontal rows / columns are cleared, returns an exploding candy that clears the surrounding 6 
• Any striped with packaged, 3 rows and columns are cleared, returns an exploding candy that clears 6
• sprinkled with any candy clears all of that color
• sprinkled with any striped changes all of that color to striped and clears 3 columns for each
• sprinkled with any packaged changes all of that color to packages and clears 3 rows for each

There are still a great deal  more pretty amazing things that can be done to clear and yet still more animated graphics and prizes to be won.  I have only gotten to level 24, but then I do not participate in the pay-to-play model.  If you fail to meet the requirements of the level you lose a life and can play again until you run out of lives.  But once the lives are gone you either have to wait to play again or you can pay $0.99 to get another full set of lives.  

Personally, I do not agree with the pay-to-play model, although I can definitely see how it could be profitable.  I spent seven years and $3500 on the Blizzard game World of Warcraft.  I think I got my fair share of entertainment, but I can't see myself ever doing it again.   Like so many other games that survive because of human addiction, Candy Crush Saga makes the desire to continue a bittersweet one. 

If you think you can resist the sweet temptation of Candy Crush Saga, check it out on the play or app store.