By Megan Drummond
By now most people have downloaded the app Candy Crush, and if you haven’t, you’re missing out on this addictive game. But why is it so addicting? You see people playing Candy Crush everywhere, from sitting in class to waiting at the shuttle stop. This is the most entertaining app on smart phones and now Facebook, and what makes it more appealing is that it comes with no cost! Everyone I asked about Candy Crush was either not playing the game or addicted; there was not much of a middle ground.
UMass Lowell student Lianna Lashua told me, “I have no idea why it is addictive, I always heard people saying it was but never believed it, but when I started playing I literally did not want to put my phone down. I feel like it’s addicting because you only have five lives and then you have to wait, and waiting makes you want what you can’t have.” These players are constantly battling with themselves to do better, and get further on their five lives. Students like Kyle Chapman of FSU play because, “Its so addicting because of how hard it eventually gets. It makes me mad when I can’t beat a level and until I do beat it I can’t stop playing.” Candy Crush can be a personal competition or you can compete with other friend’s scores, since you can chose to have your scores posted to Facebook.
The people who have never downloaded the game tended to be afraid of the addiction, simply because they know the majority of their peers are addicted.“I’m not getting the hype and I don’t want to be addicted to it, because everyone I know who plays it is addicted,” said former FSU student Gabriella Brodeur.
In 2012 Candy Crush was first released on Facebook, and a few months later it became the app that is taking over smart phones. With more than one-hundred levels of addictive candy-popping adventures, people of all ages cannot stop playing. “Once you start you can’t stop, you’re addicted and even if you get stuck on a level you have to keep playing until you beat it,” said Lisa D., a student from UNH. Each level gets harder by timing you, requiring a minimum score, or giving you tasks that need to be completed. With each game getting harder, more lives are used, making people crave the game and feel the need to pass the next level.
This game is like a puzzle and is similar to the game “Bejeweled” where you match three candies or other sweet combinations, which give you more points. Candy Crush is a bright and colorful game with catchy background music, which probably also aided to the game’s popularity. “I like the game better than any other game, because instead of just colors they use shapes which allows me to play since I am color blind,” commented Alex LaBell appreciatively.
Depending on how many points you earn you will receive one, two or three stars, one star is the minimum requirement to pass onto the next level. The game is broken up into episodes, each containing about ten to fifteen games. In order to move onto a new episode, you have to play three mystery quests. Each time you play the game the player only gets five lives; each failed attempt at a game is a loss of one life. If you run out of lives you have to wait so much time to regain your lives. Everyone dreads running out of lives and seeing the screen with the amount of time till their next life.
According to NBC Bay Area there are over 132 million users playing at least once a month. That is an incredible statistic for any app! Candy Crush is literally crushing all other apps and most people I asked were not able to give a good reason as to why it is so addictive. The only way to find out is to go download the app and give it a shot.
How far will you get?
