Common Sense Media Review
By Chris Morris
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Addictive puzzle game is pushy with in-app purchases.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Candy Crush Saga
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 61 parent reviews
Based on 20 kid reviews
Kids say the game is extremely addictive and fun, making it suitable for children, with many claiming it promotes educational skills like color and shape matching. However, there are numerous complaints about excessive in-app purchases and consumerism, which can detract from the overall gaming experience and frustrate players.
- addictive gameplay
- educational value
- in-app purchases
- consumerism issues
- suitable for kids
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
Privacy Rating Warning
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
What's It About?
Players attempt to match three similar candy types to eliminate them from the level and bring others into play. When four or more are matched, players earn one-time power-ups. To clear a level, they must either reach a point requirement, clear certain squares, or funnel certain elements to the bottom of the board and off the screen in a limited number of moves. If the goal is not achieved within those moves, you lose a life -- and you only have a limited number (though they regenerate over time).
Is It Any Good?
Candy Crush Saga is one of the more addicting games to ever hit the app store -- which is a good and bad thing. It's incredibly fun and engaging, bringing enough of a new twist to the match-three genre to stand out from the crowd. But the game's aggressive pushing of in-app purchases (and expensive ones, at that) and increased difficulty in later levels make it a trap for parents, whose kids will want grab the power-ups to clear a level.
While early levels are easy, it's virtually impossible to clear later ones without that help. And the game's pressure to incorporate Facebook (so that you might best your friends on high scores) gets a bit old, even if it's not mandatory.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android
- Skills : Thinking & Reasoning : decision-making , strategy , Self-Direction : motivation , Emotional Development : persevering
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : January 7, 2013
- Genre : Puzzle Games
- Version : 1.05
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 4.3 or later; Android varies by device
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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