Candy Crush Saga

Casual

7.6~~/10~~

Our score

★ 4.6 Google Play·1B+ installs

Reviewed by Editorial Team, ScoredApps editorial · updated 2026-09-05

Screenshots

Board mid-explosion as a colour bomb clears surrounding sweets

Level needing three candy canes brought down in 32 moves

Chocolate-covered board asking for 12 blocks in 12 moves

Underwater board with fish and ice blockers to clear

Board with locked boxes above a row of five boosters

About Candy Crush Saga

This is the match-three that set the template: a grid, a fixed number of moves, and a goal printed at the top — collect 21 jellies in 27 moves. King's own community counted 22,985 levels in August 2024, with more published every Wednesday. Five lives cap how often you can fail before waiting, and gold bars from $1.99 remove the wait.

Game information

DeveloperKing.com Limited

Version1.335.1.2

Size132.3 MB (Android) · 326 MB (iOS)

Price / In-appFree

Contains adsYes

In-app purchasesYes

Content rating13+

Requires (Android)Android 6.0+

Requires (iOS)iOS 15.0+

Offline modeLevels play offline; events, leaderboards and purchases need a connection

Interface languagesAR, CA, HR, CS, DA, NL + 23 more

Store rating (Google Play)4.6 from 38,940,094 ratings

Installs1B+

Updated by developer2026-08-26

Data checked2026-09-07

Specs come from the official store listings and were last checked on 2026-09-07. Developers change pricing and requirements — check the store page before installing.

Candy Crush Saga Review: 22,985 Levels, Five Lives

Five Lives, Then You Wait or Pay

A failed level costs one heart, and the counter sits at the top of the board next to the level number. Run the hearts down and the choice is waiting for them to refill, asking other players, or spending. Gold bars shortcut all of it — 10 for $1.99, 50 for $7.99 — with single items priced underneath: extra moves at $0.99, extra lives at $0.99, a lollipop hammer at $1.99. The timing is what makes it work. The offer appears at the moment of failure, when the board is one match short of cleared, which is the most expensive second in the whole design.

The Objective Changes Every Few Levels

The rules rotate rather than repeat: clear 21 jellies in 27 moves, bring three striped candy canes to the bottom, break 12 chocolate blocks in 12 moves, free fish from beneath the ice. Matching four or five sweets produces striped and wrapped candies and the colour bomb, which clears every sweet of one shade at once. Blockers arrive on their own schedule, boards stop being rectangles, and the booster row beneath the grid holds five of each — spendable at exactly the wrong moment for anyone impatient. That variety is why 22,985 levels do not feel like one level.

Adverts Are Currency Too

Google Play carries both a Contains ads badge and in-app purchases, against a billion installs and 4.6 stars from 38.9 million reviews. Apple rates the game 13+ specifically for advertising and records 4.7 from 4 million ratings, on a 325.9 MB install. Watching an advert buys extra moves, which means the free route through a hard level is measured in attention rather than money — the trade most of the billion installs make. New levels arrive weekly, so no one reaches an end; the game is designed as an unfinishable ladder rather than a story with a conclusion.

Pros

22,985 levels counted in 2024, with more weekly
Objectives change often enough to stay unpredictable
Levels can be played without an internet connection
Boosters and special candies are earned as well as sold
Rated 4.6 on Google Play across 38.9 million reviews

Cons

Failing a level costs one of five lives
Offers appear at the exact second you fail
Gold bars start at $1.99 and climb steadily
Adverts sit between levels unless you pay

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Verdict

Still the cleanest match-three on a phone: the rules are legible in a second, the objectives rotate, and levels play offline. What has not improved in a decade is the monetisation, which arrives at the precise moment of failure and prices your impatience at $1.99. Fine for anyone who treats the five-life limit as a stopping signal rather than a purchase prompt. Poor value for anyone who does not.

Gameplay8.5The match-three loop still reads clearly and the objectives rotate constantly.

Controls9.0One-finger swapping with generous hit areas; almost nothing is lost to mistaps.

Replay value8.5Nearly 23,000 levels and a weekly release schedule mean no natural end.

Graphics & sound7.5Bright and readable, though the art has barely moved in a decade.

Monetisation5.0Lives, adverts, boosters and gold bars all press at the moment of failure.

7.6out of 10 · weighted average of the five scores above

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Frequently asked questions

Can you play it offline?

Yes. Levels run without a connection, which is what makes it a commuting game. Events, leaderboards, life-sharing and purchases all need the internet, and progress syncs to the account the next time you connect, so playing offline on two devices can leave the two out of step.

What do you actually pay for?

Gold bars, priced at 10 for $1.99 and 50 for $7.99, then spent on extra moves, extra lives and boosters. Individual items are also sold directly — extra moves at $0.99, a lollipop hammer at $1.99. Nothing is required to progress; everything sold shortens a wait or rescues a lost level.

What does it need to run?

325.9 MB on iPhone and iOS 15 or later, though it runs comfortably on hardware several years old. That modesty is deliberate: a game aimed at a billion installs cannot demand a current handset, and the art style is built to stay readable on a small, older screen.

Is there any multiplayer?

Not in the live sense. Progress is drawn on a shared map against friends who play, connecting an account lets other players send lives, and timed events rank participants against each other. There is no synchronous mode, no head-to-head board and nothing that requires another person's attention at the same moment.

How long is a session?

A level takes one to three minutes, and five lives is the natural stopping point — roughly ten minutes of play if the levels go badly, considerably longer if they go well. The refill timer is what decides session length, which is the entire commercial logic of the design.