How to Play Candy Crush Saga

Candy Crush Saga is a candy-themed game that is very similar to Bejeweled in that both games have similar goals and are addictive. Once you begin playing, it’s hard to stop. Here are some steps you can follow either on your smartphone or on Facebook to get started.

Edit Steps

The Absolute Basics

1. Get familiar with the game board. When you start a game, you will see the game board in front of you, covered in candies. Notice how the candies sit in specific places and the area behind them is kind of gray? The gray area where the candies sit is the game board. You will only be able to move candies in those areas (which means if there is a hole in the game board, you cannot move candies across it).
   • You will also see your bonuses at the top (discussed below), and your target score for that particular game.
   • Below or to the side, you will see Moves with a number. This is the number of actions you are allowed to take before the game ends. The game ends not when you reach a particular score but either when you run out of moves or you accomplish the goal of the individual game.
   • You will also see a score progress bar. Every time you crush candies (as discussed below), you’ll earn points. These points will help you progress through the levels. If you do not earn enough points over the course of completing a level, you will lose a life. Lose too many lives and you’ll be forced to go back to the start of that section of the game. Lives can be viewed on the larger game screen, where your progress through the levels is shown.
2. Match sets of 3 or more candies. The game is played by swiping candies, in any direction (so long as it is not blocked), to create sets of 3 or more matching candies. When matched, the candies will crush and shift the candies above them, allowing you to accomplish a series of different goals. If you create sets greater than 3, you will create candy combinations. These are powerful candy crushing machines which work in a variety of ways.^[1]
   • If you match four candies, a special candy will be created which will burst an entire row if matched as part of another set of 3 or more.
   • If you match 5 or more candies in a T or L shape, you will create a wrapped candy. These explode the square of candies surrounding that tile (when matched) and then explode a subsequent 3×3 block wherever they settle.
   • If you match 5 candies in a single row, you’ll create color bombs. These look like balls of chocolate covered in sprinkles. These will crush all candies on the board of the same color as the candy you swap them with. They do not need to be merged into a set of three. Choose which color they crush wisely.
   • You can also match any two special candies with each other. This will produce a variety of effects. Combining striped and wrapped candies and stripes and color bombs are especially productive, as this will clear a large number of candies.
3. Use your boosters. You can earn a few of the boosters in the beginning of the game. You can also purchase most boosters within the game using actual money. These can help you win a level when you’re too frustrated or unable to continue. Be careful how you use them, however, as you never know when you’ll need one. Be strategic.
   • There are boosters which add moves, the lollipop hammer (which crushes the desired candy on the board), shuffle candy (which will rearrange the board), among a number of other boosters. They should be explained as you earn them, though almost all you will have to buy.
4. Reach the set goal in the game. Each level will have a set goal. This can be reaching a specific number of points, destroying a specific set of tiles (jelly-covered tiles), or other goals like forcing items to fall to the bottom.

5. Progress through the levels. You will play a series of games, each with a different game board and many with different goals, which will progress you across the levels. The game is split into sections of 15 levels. In order to progress to the next section of level you will have to acquire tickets (3, to be exact). These can be given by your friends who play Candy Crush or you will need to purchase them.

Strategies to Win

1. Eliminate complicated or dangerous candies from the board first. There are some tiles, like bombs or chocolate, which should alway be eliminated first if they exist on the board these will inhibit your progress or cause you to lose. Bombs end the game is not eliminated in the move limit specified on their face, while chocolate will multiply if not destroyed.^[2]

2. Pay attention to the edges of the game board. You will have many levels where the game board is not a perfect rectangle, or includes a number of gaps in the board. You will need to plan around these gaps and they can make it incredibly difficult to make paired sets.

3. Reshuffle the board if it looks too challenging. Once you become better acquainted with the game, you will be able to tell when a game board will be too difficult to complete. You can reshuffle the board using boosters or by exiting the game before you do any moves.

4. Get your friends to play the game. The best strategy to progress in the game is to get your friends to play. It is a social game and there will be a variety of benefits to having your friends play. Friends can give you boosters, the tickets needed to progress through the levels, as well as a variety of other benefits.

5. Largely ignore the suggestions the game makes. The game will make move suggestions if you idle for too long. These suggestions are random and it will usually be in your best interest to ignore them. If you don’t have a time limit, take the time to find out if there is a better move available. If you are only trying to increase points before a time limit runs out, take the game’s suggestion.

Edit Tips

• Here is a list of the candies you will find in each level:
  • An orange hard-boiled candy
  • A red jellybean
  • A purple or pink flower jelly
  • A dark blue lolly-pop
  • A yellow lemon drop
  • A green bubblegum square
• Some levels will have different goals that you must reach, including the following:
  • Reaching the target score in the limited moves you are allotted.
  • Reaching the target score within the time limit.
  • Clearing all the jelly. Note that some have 2-3 layers of jelly.
  • Reaching the ingredients by clearing a path through the candy.
  • Collecting orders.

Edit Warnings

• If you do not log in with your Facebook account, you may have to pay a small fee in order to get more lives once you’ve lost them if you do not want to wait the designated time.

Edit Things You’ll Need

• A smartphone or computer
• A Facebook account

Edit Related wikiHows

• How to Play Facebook Games on an Android
• How to Turn off Game Notifications in Facebook
• How to Play Farmville

• Read on wikiHow
• Email this Article
• Edit
• Discuss
How to of the Day