On a normal week I spend at least 6 hours travelling by train. I’ve commuted for many years and it used to be that my fellow commuters all had their heads buried in the latest must-read novel. Over the years the books disappeared and were replaced by Kindle’s. Nowadays everyone is staring at a smartphone or tablet computer.
I used to enjoy taking a peek at what books people were reading as inspiration for what to read next myself. Now I tend to notice that almost everyone is playing games and I can guarantee that on most journeys I’ll spot at least one person playing something by King.
When King launched Candy Crush Saga back in November 2012 they absolutely nailed the match-3 puzzler. It was (and remains) insanely addictive and I myself have spent more hours than I care to admit trying to stay ahead of my friends.
When King launches a game you know it’s going to be another high quality title. Their latest free-to-play release is Candy Crush Jelly Saga, the third release in the series. Fans of the previous two games will feel right at home. The normal selection of candy returns as does the patterns required to match them.
Like Soda Saga before it, Jelly Saga is more than just the same game under a different name. This time you need to employ more strategy when creating your candy matches. The main aim is to spread jelly which sits behind the candy. Making a match that touches jelly causes it to spread to empty tiles.
Jelly levels require you to spread a certain amount of jelly in a set number of moves to progress. You really need to think a bit more about which matches to make. If you don’t it can be very easy to waste your moves and fail the level. Of course you can always purchase more moves instead of retrying if you wish.
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Other levels introduce different mechanics too. One type has you hunting Pufflers – these are marshmallow flump worms that hide behind the candy under layers of frosting. You need to uncover the entire Puffler to find it. Uncovering just part of a Puffler causes it to move to a new location. There’s a neat anim that allows you to track it as it moves. The Puffler levels are fun but can be infuriating, especially when they hide under multiple layers of frosting or behind candy gates.
Jelly Saga also introduces boss fights where you go up against the Jelly Queen. Here you and the Queen compete to spread your colour of Jelly the most. Creating special sweets through big matches allows you to stun each other for an extra move. These boss fights are some of the trickiest levels in the game.
Jelly Saga has 120 levels at launch that are sure to keep players busy for many hours. I’d advise players new to the series to try the original Candy Crush Saga first but that’s not a requirement.
Candy Crush fans will want to pick Jelly Saga up straight away. It’s yet another strong title from King who can’t seem to stop making such addictive games. The hardest part is making time for another Saga title but if you like a challenge then I recommend that you check it out.
Publisher: King Developer: King Release Date: January 7, 2016 Reviewed On: iOS Also available on: Android
