Candy Crush Saga was released in 2011 and quickly became one of the most popular games on Facebook by 2012. It's a wildly compelling game that has everyone can play, regardless of age. There's so much more to it than just the basic mechanics of a match-three game, which is why it can be a good brain tickler.
The game is still going strong today, and later levels can be especially challenging. Luckily, there are some tips and tricks you can keep in mind to help you get past them without using up too many lives.
Updated on June 26, 2023, by Jouanna Bondakji: Candy Crush may have a reputation for being the sort of game only Facebook moms and the elderly play, but in reality, there's a reason why it's still huge over a decade after its initial launch. There's no shame in enjoying the game, whether you're doing so just to pass some time or attempting to see how far you can go.
Either way, since Candy Crush has a few special mechanics which can help or hinder your progress greatly, there are a few general tips you should keep in mind if you want to succeed.
15 Check The Level First
This tip is good to keep in mind for any level, but especially later ones. The candy boards you get aren't fixed. If you haven't made any moves yet, you can actually back out of the level and come back. Doing this will randomize the candies on the board again.
This means you should assess how well you'll be able to crush candies with your current board in the first few moves before starting. Getting screwed over by bad RNG is frustrating, so the extra step to examine the level's board is worth the small hassle.
14 Make A Game Plan
Whenever you are beginning a new level, be sure to look at the board and try to figure out the most difficult elements on that level. That way, you can attack those elements first and foremost, rather than just going for it without a plan.
Beginners tend to rush into the level without really considering all their options. Make sure to pause between moves to properly assess where you can make the biggest combos. Blindly trying your luck is tempting, but you'll probably just end up losing lives rather quickly and having fewer chances to beat the level as a result.
13 Start At The Bottom
If you've ever wondered why you've lost a level even though you crushed a lot of candies yourself, it might be because you're starting your crushing at the top or middle of the board. The goal of Candy Crush isn't just to get as many matches as possible.
You often have to set things up so that the candies create a chain reaction with each other, crushing a bunch of them with just one move. Starting at the bottom of the board makes matching candies for that effect much easier. It gives more points and is super satisfying to watch unfold.
12 Make Several Wrapped Candies On Certain Levels
Making and exploding wrapped candies gives you a lot of extra points, which you should keep in mind with certain levels that require you to collect a particular number of points. When you're playing one of these levels, be sure to make as many wrapped candies as you possibly can.
On top of the extra points, you can clear more Blockers and unwanted candies, so it's a win-win. It's crucial to use these wrapped candies you have accumulated to your benefit, especially because sometimes it's the only way to succeed.
11 Combine Certain Special Candies
There are a few special candies, and they're all immensely useful in their own ways. But using certain combinations of these special candies makes them even more powerful. For example, striped candies will eliminate all candies in their row or column. Now, combine a striped candy with a color bomb, and all candies that are the same color of the striped candy will become striped candies themselves.
Then, they'll detonate one by one, clearing multiple rows and columns of candies for huge points. Likewise, combining a striped candy with a wrapped candy will clear three rows and three columns on the board. Using combinations of special candies will net you a ton of points with just one swipe.
10 Don’t Always Use Suggested Moves
This is a major tip that you may not know about. When playing a level, if you don’t make a move within a certain amount of time, the game will suggest a move for you to make. Do not make this move.
This is simply because the moves they suggest are typically at random, and not necessarily to assist you with making a good decision. In fact, their suggestions could screw you over. So, it would be in your best interest to ignore the suggestion and find a move you would like to make yourself.
9 Save Your Special Candies And Boosters
When first playing Candy Crush, your instinct may be to use the free boosters that the game gives you immediately, but do not do this. Try to save them for the later levels when you will truly need the help. The same goes for the special candies you get in one individual level.
This is especially the case from level 70 onward, since that's when things really get difficult, to say the least. And it only gets harder as you progress, so save them for as long as you possibly can!
8 Change The Clock For Extra Lives
There's a way to get extra lives through a cheat. All you have to do is change the clock on your mobile ahead by two hours. That way, you won't have to wait for your lives to refill. How you can do this depends on which phone you have, but you basically just need to go to the settings and tell your phone not to automatically set the time via the internet. Then, add two hours forward and get four more lives in your game.
You’ll have to pay back the time at some point, but schedule it for around when you’re sleeping, and you're golden. Don’t forget to change it from PM to AM if you're doing this around midnight, though!
7 Don't Accept Extra Lives From Friends Immediately
Obviously, it's great when you open up Candy Crush and see that a friend has sent you a gift. But don't hit accept... at least, not right away. It is absolutely crucial when accepting certain gifts--particularly extra lives--from friends, that you only save them for when you absolutely need them.
If you accept the gift of an extra life from a friend when you're already at max capacity, it'll go to waste. So, click ‘X’ until you're down to two or three lives, and only then should you accept the extra life.
6 Turn Off Boosters For The Next Level
You have a few boosters you can activate to help you out with a level, but their uses are limited. It's incredibly easy to forget to turn off the boosters you were using in the previous level when beginning the next one, but it can be a serious problem if you unknowingly use them.
Always make sure to turn them off, especially if you don't need the boosters for the next level. Otherwise, you might waste boosters that could be pertinent to a future level. Playing smart with when and how to use this mechanic can save you a lot of frustration.
5 Save The Fish For Last
Jelly fish can be the key to beating particularly challenging levels. Whenever you're playing a level, it's always helpful to play the jelly fish booster last, especially if you're on a jelly level. Make sure you use them at the very end of the level, when you have almost no moves left, because they'll automatically go for any remaining jellies.
So if you have hard-to-reach jellies left, they will seek them out and hopefully help you win the level. Using them in other levels is still useful, sure, but definitely try to save them for those pesky jelly levels.
4 Know Your Chocolate
Chocolate is awesome in real life, but you don't want to see it in Candy Crush. It's important to note that if you've eaten a piece of chocolate in one round, it will not regenerate in the next round. This means you can somewhat control keeping the chocolate from coming back again and again.
Make sure to try to destroy the chocolate in each round it appears in. That way, it won’t come back in the following round. That is, unless you're playing in later levels. In that case, you probably know that there's a chocolate maker that causes the chocolate to come back at an alarming rate.
3 Prioritize Extra Time During A Time Challenge
Not every level uses moves to test your candy-crushing skills. Sometimes, there are timed levels. The easiest way to pass one of those is to try to get as many time candies as humanly possible to add more time to the clock.
They do not come down randomly, mind you, so there's a surefire way to get a lot of time added. The time candies drop each time you make a move that in turn causes a cascade of at least four combos. Try to get those combos as often as possible, then crush the time candy to add it to your timer.
2 Clear Jellies On The Edges
When trying to destroy the jellies on a jelly level, try to always go for the ones on the edges. This is because the ones on the edges typically have the least number of combinations that can eliminate them, and that ultimately makes them the most difficult to get rid of.
Always take a minute between your moves to see if you can get rid of these outer jellies, especially the corners or bottom ones, before moving on to an easier target. It may seem impossible to do at first, but if you manage to do it, it'll make the rest of the level smooth sailing.
1 Don't Let The Game Trick You
This game might try to trick you into making some moves out of panic. You probably become extremely nervous when a time bomb is involved. But don’t immediately fret, because not everything is always as it seems.
For example, a 14-move bomb might appear even though you only have 11 moves left. Obviously, you won’t need to worry about the bomb since the game will be over before it even has a chance to detonate. Uncovering tricks like that will make for a much calmer candy-crushing experience.