What You Need to Know

When you start playing Candy Crush for the first time, you may feel like it takes no more skill than a Vegas slot machine, and that there’s no strategy involved at all since the candy dropping onto the board is completely random. But the more you play, the more you discover that—although luck of the candy drop does play a role—there’s plenty here for those who seek strategy. You need a keen eye for recognizing combo opportunities and creating those opportunities. Creating special power-ups that clear large portions of the board is more often than not the key to clearing levels. Once you can see the patterns that lead to special combinations, you begin to control the outcome of all the random candy drops.

Candy Crushing

Following are all the candy-crushing combos available in Candy Crush Saga.

Match Three

This core gameplay move consists of swiping a colored candy to create a row or column of at least three matching-color candies. Once performed, the three matched candies are crushed and removed from the board. New randomly colored candies enter the board to replace the spaces created by the three you crushed. This action can cause cascades (chain reactions) as falling candies automatically match three or more candies in other areas of the board. Each candy crushed earns you points, and cascades create point multipliers.

Special Candy

Special Candy is made when you swipe four or more same-color candy in a particular pattern. When used, these Special Candies produce more points. They’re often used as moves needed to solve certain puzzle elements. Special Candies are used to destroy Blockers that a normal match-three-candy-crush cannot.

Striped Candy

Striped Candy is formed when you arrange a row or column of four same-color candy in a straight line. The direction in which you create it determines whether the stripes are horizontal or vertical on the candy. When the Striped Candy is activated, the direction of the stripes determines the direction in which the line of destruction moves.

Wrapped Candy

Wrapped Candy is created when you combine five same-color candies in an L or T shape. The shape of the candies can be created at any orientation. The Wrapped Candy can be detonated by combining it with a match of three or more colors, when hit with a Striped Candy shot or exploded with a Color Bomb or another exploding Wrapped Candy. The blast area takes out all adjacent candies in the first blast (eight adjacent candies), and as it moves to the next clear spot, the second explosion takes out another eight surrounding candies.

Color Bomb

A Color Bomb looks like a chocolate ball with candy sprinkles. This is the most powerful Special Candy available. Color Bombs are formed when you combine five or more same-color candies in a straight line. When switched with a regular candy, all candies of that same color are eliminated from the entire board with laser precision. See “Special Candy Combinations” for all the amplified effects from using the Color Bomb in combination with other Special Candies.

Special Candy / Boosters

There are a few more Special Candies that you encounter on various puzzle boards. These Special Candies cannot be created; rather, they’re dispensed or already on the board when you start the level. These are also boosters that can be earned or purchased and become available for selection before the level starts, to be used in the level (depending on the level type). They appear or can be used in Jelly, Ingredient, Mixed Mode, and Candy Order Levels.

Jelly Fish

Swedish Jelly Fish come in as many colors as normal candy. In Candy Crush sequels, these Swedish Jelly Fish can be created by combining four candies in a square shape—but unfortunately, Candy Crush Saga has not adopted this move. Currently you can only bring it into play as a booster, or it may already exist in the level (maybe stuck in Marmalade or spawned out of Mystery Candy), or it can be generated by striking a Bobber.

Use Jelly Fish by combining one with two other same-color candies (like a normal match-three), or matching three same-color Jelly Fish. Otherwise, Jelly Fish must be used in a combo with other Special Candies, or caught up in the effects of a Special Candy.

When activated, the Jelly Fish swims off-screen and returns as three. Each of the three Jelly Fish swims to a target to destroy it. Jelly Fish cannot be sent to an intended target. You cannot direct them. They have minds of their own and first target Jelly (if multiple layers, then only one layer is destroyed) and Blockers (if Jelly is under some Blocker types, it goes under the Blocker and takes out the Jelly). However, if the Jelly is under a Liquorice swirl or Liquorice Locks, the Jelly Fish only takes out the Blocker and not the Jelly underneath.

Jelly Fish appear during a Sugar Crush if you have remaining lives at the end of a completed Jelly Level. Each remaining life converts to three randomly colored Jelly Fish, which in turn eat candies at random, awarding points—a number dependent on the targets they hit.

Coconut Wheel

This round pink candy is a Coconut Wheel and is a Special Candy that naturally appears only in Ingredient Levels before Level 824. After Level 824, you can find Coconut Wheels in any level type, but the booster version is only available for ingredient-type levels.

The Coconut Wheel cannot be created by any candy combination, but is only spawned by using a booster, or uncovered on the board trapped under Marmalade or Liquorice Locks.

To activate the Coconut Wheel, swipe it with the candy adjacent to it. This destroys the candy and starts the spinning. It eventually moves in the direction it was swiped, turning the next three candies into Striped Candies, which are automatically activated. If you swipe the Coconut Wheel horizontally, it creates vertical Striped Candies, which can bring down ingredients from the top of the board. If you swipe vertically, horizontal Striped Candies are created. All candies must come to a resting place before the Coconut Wheel starts creating Striped Candies.

If the Coconut Wheel is activated by another action (say, exploding candy), it spins and randomly choses a move direction. Even more powerful moves occur when you swipe a Coconut Wheel with a Special Candy (see “Special Candy Combinations” for details).

Lucky Candy

These Special Candies only appear as boosters or in Candy Order Levels, and can come out of a Mystery Candy or be found under Liquorice Locks. These Special Candies cannot be formed by any combination of candy, and can be one of six colors, like normal candy.

Activating Lucky Candies is done the same way as any normal candy—match three or more same-color candies together. Once destroyed, the checkmarked candy becomes the candy type needed to fulfill the order in the board objectives. It could become a regular candy with a specific color, a Special Candy, or in some cases, a Blocker.

Lollipop Hammer

The Lollipop Hammer is a booster-only item. These don’t appear on a board, nor are they dispensed. The only way to use a Lollipop Hammer is to have been awarded one or to have purchased them. Lollipop Hammers are rare and should be saved up for the very difficult levels. They allow you to destroy anything on a space. You can remove a candy, a Jelly below a candy, or a Blocker (or one layer of a Multilayered Blocker) without using a single move. You cannot, however, destroy a Chocolate Spawner, ingredient, or a Sugar Chest. You can use it to reveal the contents of a Mystery Candy or a Lucky Candy. When used on a Special Candy, that candy’s effect is activated.

You can win these from the Daily Booster Wheel and the Sugar Drop. You can also purchase them while in a level if the booster icon is visible beside the board (if it’s an active booster for that level type).

Extra Moves

The Extra Moves Booster is usually first discovered on the Failed Level Attempt menu that pops up at the end of a failed board. Clicking on the Extra Moves Booster automatically takes 10 Gold Bars and puts you back in the game with five more moves. Or, if you don’t have the Gold required, the same button takes you to the Candy Shop, where you can purchase more Gold.

Extra Moves on mobile devices also appears on the prize wheel accessed when you click on the Win Moves button on the same Failed Level menu. You earn a free spin every 24 hours, and if that’s been used, it costs you seven Gold Bars to spin the wheel. This wheel consists of three +5 Extra Moves and one +15 Extra Moves space. There are also Jelly Fish, a Lollipop Hammer, Color Bombs (x2), and a Wrapped Candy/Striped Candy combo between the Extra Moves spaces.

If you continue to fail the mission after using Extra Moves, the price of Extra Moves increases each time it’s accessed. In fact, at the seventh failed attempt, the Extra Moves becomes a +15 move. At the eighth it becomes +50, which means you’ve used 45 Extra Moves.

On web versions of the game, the Extra Moves Booster can be activated at any time during the game, and each use costs Gold Bars.

Free Switch

The red hand with three fingers is a booster that, when used, allows you to switch any two adjacent candies (even if they don’t match) while not using a move. You can also use it as an extra move. Move matching candy to save a move. However, when swiping two Special Candies together with a Free Switch, the Special Candies don’t release their combo effect; instead they just switch places.

You can use a Free Switch to move ingredients with another ingredient, candy, or movable Blocker. This is useful if the ingredient gets stuck in a space adjacent to the column where the exit is located.

Free Switches are given as awards from side challenges, such as Star Chaser, or purchased in bundles at the Candy Shop. You can also land on these on the Daily Booster Wheel, or earn them by participating in the Sugar Drop challenge and the Treat Calendar.

Striped & Wrapped

This booster is available on many pre-level menus, and gives you one Wrapped and one Striped Candy at the beginning of the level to use when you please (just make sure to use them wisely and quickly so that a cascade doesn’t activate them in an unintended location). This booster can be won from the Daily Booster Wheel, the Treat Calendar, and from the Sugar Drop challenge.

Bomb Cooler

This booster is only available after failing a level that has Candy Bombs (time bombs) in the puzzle. On the Fail screen, you’re given a chance to purchase +5 Extra Moves and a +Bomb Cooler for 10 Gold. The +Bomb Cooler allows you back in the game and resets the Candy Bombs that had fewer than five moves on them back up to five moves. So, in other words, if you left the game and some Candy Bombs were on the board with six moves left on them, they would be unaffected.

If you fail the same board again, the next Fail screen offers you a +5 Bomb Cooler (and a +5 Extra Moves and a Striped Candy) for 16 Gold. Now the +5 Bomb Cooler affects all Candy Bombs, adding five moves to every bomb. This continues to grow with each failure. After the seventh failure, you can get a +10 Bomb Cooler. All fails after that allow you to purchase a +15 Bomb Cooler. This is the only way to get these boosters; you cannot get them through features like the Daily Booster Wheel, etc.

UFO

This fun booster usually comes in a group of two or more on a board, locked or out of reach from typical matches. In most cases, you must use Special Candy effects to unlock and then activate a UFO. Once activated, the UFO shoots three Wrapped Candies on the board and typically targets Jelly, Blockers, or Chocolate, or blasts things under ingredients so they fall. If the UFO is free and sitting in a reachable space on the board, you only need to swipe the UFO with any candy to activate it manually.

This booster cannot be won on the Daily Booster Wheel. The only way to receive this booster is if it already exists on a board, or if you purchase one for 20 Gold from the Sweet Supplies Inventory menu. They don’t appear in any of the bundles in the Candy Shop.

Striped Brush

This booster lets you paint stripes onto any candy of your choice, and you get to choose the stripe direction. This booster is unlocked at Level 37. The only way to obtain this booster is by purchasing it for 15 Gold through the Sweet Supplies Inventory menu. This is probably the least-purchased booster there is—it isn’t all that special since Striped Candy is a common combo created on the boards.

Party Booster

Party Boosters are the newest boosters. When they first appear (you can be anywhere after Level 29), you’re given three. Use them wisely; after these three are gone, the only way to get more is to purchase them from the Candy Shop for 30 Gold Bars each. A Party Booster has two stages of attacks. In the first stage, a large star-shaped piñata floats over the board and releases a blast that completely clears a board of unlocked or trapped candy, similar to a Cake Bomb; it only clears one level of Multilayered Blockers. When the dust settles, a Jelly Fish, Striped Candy, Wrapped Candy, and Color Bomb spawn in random areas on the board. If you need to get past a tricky level, this is the booster for you.

Other Special Candy

There are a few other Special Candies that appear in certain level types. These are not available as boosters.

 Chameleon Candy

The Chameleon Candy looks like rainbow-colored candy. They’re easily identifiable, as they change between two colors with every move you make, and a rainbow effect sweeps across them every few seconds. They cause difficulty in otherwise easy puzzle situations; their color-changing nature causes possible color matches to disintegrate as the color changes to a non-matching one.

Chameleon Candy can be dispensed from Candy Cannons and is destroyed like any normal candy—when color matches of three or more are swiped together, or from the effects of a Special Candy activation.

Mystery Candy

Mystery Candy behaves and is crushed just like normal candy and comes in as many color variations. They’re identified by the question mark painted on them, and they’re all egg-shaped. When they’re crushed, you have a 50/50 chance of getting a good power-up from within. They produce good outcomes, such as Striped Candy, Wrapped Candy, Color Bombs, Special Booster Candy, and Chameleon Candy. The type of Booster Candy that could be produced depends on the level type, so you could get Jelly Fish, Coconut Wheel, or Lucky Candy.

The possible bad outcomes include Chocolate, Icing, Sachet/Multilayered Icing, Candy Bomb, Liquorice Swirl, Popcorn, and a Chocolate Spawner.

Candy Frog

The Candy Frog is one of the most complex elements of Candy Crush Saga. One frog appears at a time on the board. It feeds on candies that match its current color when matches of three candies or more are swiped. The frog doesn’t get crushed when matched with candies. It only moves when swiped to a new position, or when moved to be activated after it reaches its fully charged state. It can also be moved onto conveyor belts. It’s fed same-color candy or Special Candy until it becomes a special power-up that acts like a Wrapped Candy.

When fed 12 same-color candies, it reaches its full “Frogtastic!” state. You hear a voice announcing this achievement. Select the Candy Frog, then select a location on the board for the frog to jump to. The frog lands and destroys whatever is on that space, plus the surrounding eight squares (like a Wrapped Candy explosion). After which the frog changes colors and is ready to be fed again. Activating the Candy Frog effect doesn’t cost you a move unless it’s a Moves Level.

When swiped with Special Candies, the Candy Frog mimics the effects of that candy’s abilities. Swipe with a Striped Candy and the frog becomes striped, and with the next frog move it shoots and clears a row or column of candy from the space it moves to. Likewise, when swiped with Wrapped Candy, the Candy Frog becomes wrapped, and with its next move it clears a 3x3 area just like a Wrapped Candy explosion.

A Color Bomb swiped with a Color Frog turns the frog brown with sprinkles and eliminates all the colors associated with the candy swiped with the frog on its next movement.

Here are a few of the curiosities of the Candy Frog. When a normal colored frog is matched with a Special Candy, the Special Candy is activated, and the frog copies that special effect (Jelly Fish is the exception to this rule). When the colored frog already carries a Special Candy effect and is then matched with another Special Candy, it acts as if it were a normal Special Candy combination (see “Special Candy Combinations”).

Candy Frogs can be covered by Chocolate—the frog’s eyes are visible through the Chocolate. In this case, the Chocolate must be broken through normal gameplay to release the frog and thus begin feeding it with subsequent moves. You cannot feed a frog that’s in Locked Chocolate or inside a Sugar Chest.

Special Candy Combinations

This table reveals all the possible combined effects created by swiping all variations of Special Candies together.

Secondary Elements

Secondary Elements are puzzle features to keep the game fresh, fun, and challenging. Secondary Elements can be broken down into two categories: Blockers and Non-Blocker elements. These Blockers can alter the nature of candies with every move, spawn elements and Blockers, and move candies from one place to another. Non-Blocker elements cannot be removed from a board, unlike Blockers, which can be destroyed.

Blockers

Blockers can prevent levels from being completed, cover up candies, prevent Special Candies from executing their normal functions, prevent candies from taking up a space until cleared, or worst of all, prevent you from accessing candies for matching. A typical Blocker is Chocolate. It starts in one space and covers candies, making them inaccessible. If the Chocolate isn’t destroyed in the next move, it multiplies and occupies an adjacent space, covering yet another candy.

Some Blockers can be useful. Marmalade, Icing, and Liquorice Swirls could stop Chocolate from spreading. And sometimes Chocolate covers a Candy Bomb just before it goes off and fails the level.

Level Types

You can find the level type display icons on the Booster Selection menu, reached just before you enter a level. The Level Type button is located to the left of the Play! button that starts the level. Click on the Level Type button to learn the objective details of that particular level.

The numbered space on the world map is color-coded to match the type of level located there.

Moves Levels

A Moves Level is one that has a target score to reach, with a certain amount of moves available. This is the first level type in Candy Crush (Level 1 is a Moves Level). Moves Levels are the easiest level type and are very rare, making up less than 10% of all the existing levels.

The number of moves needed to reach a score is clearly displayed; as soon as you enter the level, look at the top of the screen. The largest, boldest number displayed is the amount of candy-swiping moves you have, and the target score is to the right or below this number (depending on which way you have your device oriented). All the moves can be used to reach beyond the target score; in fact, you must use all the moves to complete this game type. When all moves are spent, Sugar Crush activates any Special Candies left on the board. Many times, this last action allows you to reach the target score. This is the only level type that never has Bobbers.

The name “Moves Level” is a little confusing, as all level types are restricted to the amount of moves you have. If you always had unlimited moves, none of the level types would be very challenging. This level type should be more accurately named “Target Score Levels.”

Jelly Levels

Jelly Levels make up around 40% of all levels currently in Candy Crush Saga. In a Jelly Level, you must clear all the Jelly from the board within a set number of moves. Jelly is removed by eliminating the candy that sits on the same square, with normal matching swipes and Special Candy effects and combinations. Blockers and Locks can keep you from easily removing Jelly. When all Jelly is removed from a board, a Sugar Crush is activated, which releases three Jelly Fish per remaining move. These Jelly Fish then eat random candies on the board, increasing your score. Jelly Levels can be the hardest level type in the game. Jelly Fish are good boosters to use in those hard-to-reach Jelly spaces.

Ingredient Levels

Ingredient Levels make up around 20% of all the boards in Candy Crush Saga. The objective is to collect all the indicated ingredients (Hazelnuts and Cherries) by sending them through a green arrow portal. The green portal can be set anywhere but is typically at the bottom of the board. Levels can request varying amounts of Cherries and Hazelnuts, and sometimes it’s just one ingredient type. They fall like normal candies but cannot be destroyed or covered by Chocolate. Sometimes the ingredients are on the board at the beginning of the level, and sometimes they drop out of dispensers. When all the ingredients have been collected within the set number of moves, the level is a success. At the end of the level, Sugar Crush creates a Striped Candy out of each remaining move and activates it to rack up more points. You fail the level if you fail to pass all the ingredients through the green arrow portal. Striped Candy, Color Bomb combos, and Coconut Wheels make short work of Ingredient Levels.

Candy Order Levels

These are the second-most-common level type in the game, making up around 25% of the boards. In this level type, you must collect a certain number of candies, candy combinations, or Blockers within a certain number of moves. Once all those orders have been fulfilled, the remaining lives are converted into Striped Candy and activated during the Sugar Crush.

Collecting orders simply means destroying the candy on the order, or creating and destroying the number of candy combos listed. One of the best boosters for this type of game is the Lucky Candy Booster—when broken, it produces one of the candies on the order. This is especially useful when candies on the order are out of reach or trapped under Blockers or Locks.

One of the easiest ways to collect all the orders of candy, Striped Candy, or Wrapped Candy is to use a Color Bomb on that candy type. It either zaps all those colors or creates many Striped or Wrapped Candies and destroys them. Try your best to create Color Bombs during Candy Order Levels (or bring them in as boosters).

When Chocolate is on the order, you must strategize not to destroy Chocolate as soon as it appears, or you risk forcing it not to materialize for a couple of moves. This often causes you to run out of moves to complete the order. Keep Chocolate spawning one after another if possible, then take out large orders of Chocolate with fewer moves or by taking out many Chocolates with Special Candy effects and combos.

Mixed Mode Levels

Mixed Mode Levels are exactly as stated: two or more different objectives in one level. Mixed Mode Levels make up around 10% of all the boards. All Mixed Mode Levels are a combination of Jelly and Ingredient Levels. Previously, there were Jelly and Time Levels, until all Time Levels were taken out of the game. All these that were mixed were turned into Jelly Levels

Free Boosters: Challenges & Events

If you refuse to spend real-world money and want to earn your way through all the worlds, you can still use boosters, but you have to work harder and wait longer for them—as opposed to forking over some cash at the Candy Shop. Events are challenges that are being constantly created. Partaking in events allows you to earn boosters.

Sugar Drop

Have you seen those levels on the world map with the letter “C” on them? That means that level is a Sugar Drop level. A Sugar Drop is a normal candy but has a white band around it with the letter “C” written in gold. You collect these to obtain rewards. They appear in Sugar Drop levels and in subsequent newly unlocked levels. The Sugar Drop only appears on the board during a cascade event, when the announcer says, “Sweet,” “Tasty,” “Delicious,” or “Divine.” When this happens, a regular candy is turned into a Sugar Drop. Once on the board, they’re collected no differently from a normal candy.

The idea is to collect a certain number of Sugar Drops to earn prizes. Jumping back into the same level where Sugar Drops appeared doesn’t spawn them again. When you click on the Play button on a Sugar Track prompt, a progress bar indicates the number of candies you’ve collected, as well as the number needed for the next reward.

When you complete a level—and also achieve one of the stages of Sugar Drop collection (24, 60, 84, 120, 180 Sugar Drops collected)—the reward screen pops up and you can claim your reward then and there. Your rewards are: Lollipop Hammer, Jelly Fish, Color Bomb, Coconut Wheel, Free Switch, Striped and Wrapped Candy, Lucky Candy, and Gold Bars. The higher the collection number, the better and more rewards you earn.

When one round has been achieved, there’s an eight-hour cooldown period where no Sugar Drops are available for collection.

Star Chaser (Misty the Unicorn)

This is the event that features Misty the Unicorn. She needs 10 stars to create a star-shaped constellation. The more stars you earn per level, the quicker you fill up her constellation with gold stars. You can’t replay the same level to get more stars; you must complete new levels to add to Misty’s constellation chart. You have a limited time (around 24 hours) to complete the challenge. When active, the Star Chaser details appear in the Fun Events menu found on the World Map screen. Here you can see how you rank with others and how much time is left in the challenge.

Denize’s Star Dust (Denize the Dragon)

Much like the Star Chaser event, Star Dust features a mystical creature, Denize the Dragon, and you must help her light lanterns by collecting stars. All the same rules apply as Star Chaser; it’s just a different host. This event lasts around 30 hours.

Space Dash

When this event is active, finishing levels without losing a life earns you boosters that become active on the first move in the next level. Continue winning levels, and each subsequent level another booster is added to the list of boosters you begin with. The bonuses are over when you fail a level and must restart at the beginning of the challenge to build up stacked boosters again. There are five levels of booster awards.

Magic Dash (Mort the Magician)

This event is much like the Space Dash. Once you complete one or two levels, the event kicks in. Continue to pass levels without failing to stack booster prizes that become available on the board on the first move of each next level reached. Helmets fill with boosters after completing a level. The booster rewards are the same as in the Space Dash table in the previous section.

Dexter’s Delight Candy Collection (Dexter the Whale)

You get rewards by collecting Orange or Striped Candies, but the level must be completed for these collections to count toward the total. When it’s completed, you can earn a group of prizes: Free Switch, Wrapped and Striped Candy, Lollipop, Jelly Fish, Coconut Wheel, and a Color Bomb. The problem with this event is that you must stay in the world to complete the challenge, so many are out of the world before the event ends. There’s no way to opt out of the event. While this guide was being written, King announced that they were altering the way this event works.

Candy Pet

This is one of the newest events in the game. Collect candies by winning levels, then bake treats for Rami the Sheep (Thursday through Sunday) or Didi the baby dragon (Monday through Thursday) to earn a sweet reward. You have six stages to earn the big prize. First, you must tap the capsule to hatch the Candy Pet. The first order is 20 (same-color) candies, and the baking time is five seconds. Next, the color of the candy changes, the amount changes to 80, and the baking time greatly increases. This goes on for six stages of increasing orders and baking time. Repeat the process to fill the meter and collect the reward. Candies collected during baking time don’t go toward the challenge. Each stage award is one hour of free Color Bomb Boosters, and the final prize includes a Free Switch, Coconut Wheel, Lucky Candy, Color Bomb, and a Lollipop Hammer. These are added to your inventory.

Treat Calendar

Play every day and accept the treats earned every day for seven days in a row. Miss a day, and you start back at Day 1.

Daily Booster Wheel

This is the best way to get a free booster every day. Give the Booster Wheel a spin every 24 hours to get a free booster. The Jackpot space is rigged; it speeds up or slows down just before reaching it. It’s not impossible to land on it but it’s very rare. When you do land on it, you earn one of each prize on the wheel. Eventually you learn how many times the wheel goes around so you can try to pick your prize, but the wheel speed and number of revolutions are different on each device.

Candy Shop

The Candy Shop has multiple bundles available that contain all types of boosters and Gold. The three most expensive bundles also include Free Play hours. The bundles range from $6.99 to $99.99 (there are five bundles). You can also buy bundles of Gold in case you simply need a little something to get you through a tough spot. The lowest Gold package contains 15 Gold and costs $1.99, while the most expensive and largest bundle contains 1000 Gold and costs $79.99.