Blog 1: Team and Concept Introduction

Hello,

We are Team CC!

Here are the links to the individual members blogs:

- Yupel

- Vy Phan

- Eugene

- Daniel

Candy Crush is a circus themed tile matching video game available on iOS and Android. It is considered to be one of the first successful uses of a freemium model, which means that the basic product is provided for free, but players have to pay for additional features.

Gameplay:

The players complete each level by matching 3 or more colored pieces of candy which then causes the candies to burst and eliminates them from the game board and the empty spaces are then filled with newer candies from the top.

In some cases, this may create new matches within the candies which are then automatically cleared in the same way. Players are given a set number of switches and moves. Points will be gained for the matches made and can gain more points for chain reactions (cascades). Making matches larger than 3 earns players special candies that are power up candies and have the ability to clear entire rows, columns or sections of the board at once. The main goal is to earn as many points as possible to achieve one, two, or three stars based on the scores. In order to gain the highest number of points, players must try to make large matches and chain reactions. If the players cannot achieve a score to receive at least one star, then they fail the level, lose a life and will have to try again. If the player runs out of lives, they have to wait for a certain amount of real-world time for the lives to regenerate before trying the level again,they can request for lives from friends if their game is connected to their facebook accounts or pay for a set of new lives.

Levels:

Completed levels can be replayed if the player wishes to. Players that fulfill the level goals are then taken to the next level, each level must be completed in sequence and each level has a variety of goals that need to be completed within a fixed number of moves or a limited amount of time, score or collecting a specific number of a type of candy/tile. For example, some levels have jelly covered spaces that need to be cleared by making a match on the space before you can move on, and others have specific ingredients that need to be sent to the bottom most layer of the board. Boards in Candy crush have a number of different layouts that includes special spaces that have their own set of rules- like the jelly .All the levels in Candy Crush are divided into episodes, and each episode has around 15 levels, except the first two episodes which only contain 10 levels each.

What a typical level of candy crush looks like

Power up candies-

1. Striped- four or more

   1. Clears the column or row

2. Chocolate bomb - 5 or more

   1. Swipe with a specific candy and it clears that candy throughout the board

3. Wrapped candy- formed by matching candies in a T or L shape

   1. Activated when swiped with another candy, explodes and clear the 8 surrounding candies.

4. Jelly fish- it is given at the beginning of certain levels- cannot be matched or made by user

   1. Jelly fish come in normal candy colors and they have to be activated, when activated they swim off the screen with three new jelly fish and eat three random squares that contain a certain target object- depending on the priority list of that level

In-app purchases:

Users can play the game without spending any money, but they can choose to do special actions to help complete a level and clear the board.

Concept Statement:

Candy Crush Saga's simple gameplay of matching three or more similar candies allows users to pass through levels with ease, creating a sense of accomplishment and rewards. Visually, Candy Crush Saga gives off a friendly and cheerful look with bright-colored visual elements as well as playful prompts, animations and sound effects. Candy Crush Saga is a major hit among adult and even senior players as a time-killing activity. However, its addictive gameplay is also the culprit of people reportedly dedicating alarmingly large amounts of time and money into the game. The popularity and craze Candy Crush Saga causes among its adult users despite the simple mechanism and arguably childish visuals makes Candy Crush Saga an interesting case study on what factors cause gaming addiction among adult users.