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Have you actually played Candy Crush? It's a well designed game that is a lot of fun to play. At no time do you actually have to pay for anything. People volun

Have you actually played Candy Crush? It's a well designed game that is a lot of fun to play. At no time do you actually have to pay for anything. People voluntarily pay because they want to keep playing at that moment or because they want to get more levels. Even then it's far cheaper than going to an arcade.

jacques_chester 13y ago
In the exact article linked it is explained that Candy Crush starts as a skill game and then makes a subtle shift to being a money game. If a casino was changing a game from skill to luck in the middle of play they would be shut down.
- rdouble 13y ago
  Criticisms of these games always include references to casino games, but aren't they more just like arcade games? Most arcade games you have to keep paying to stay alive, also. As a side note, I'm not sure how seriously one should take an article that is a giant jpeg hosted on download-free-games.com.
  - jacques_chester 13y ago
    Arcade machines never took credit cards. If they had, our parallels would be drawn differently.
    - rdouble 13y ago
      Casino games don't take credit cards, either.
      - jacques_chester 13y ago
        Because they're banned from doing so.
- samolang 13y ago
  How is that any different from the freemium business model? They offer a lot of playing time for free and if you really enjoy the game, then you're willing to pay for more.
pbhjpbhj 13y ago
I used to play bejeweled, the free online version, quite content in the knowledge that it was effectively a Skinner box. I was seriously in the zone of compulsive behaviour there - could play it for hours. But then they started really optimising the visual and aural feedback mechanisms and heavily pushing the money side with bought boosts and such like. At that point it just became a game of how much money are you prepared to waste. Haven't played since. I'm assuming candy crush is the latest in this line of game?
- jameskilton 13y ago
  Candy Crush takes this to the extreme. There is no long-running purchase options, everything you buy are one-off boosts or (I'm serious here), 5 more turns on your current level. And none of these guarantee that you will actually pass the current level. In fact, you learn quickly that most levels will be deemed "winnable" within the first few moves, whereas the rest are exercises in frustration and randomness. Candy Crush is the epitome of Pay 2 Win when you remove all scruples from the equation. Candy Crush is a literal slot machine but without the chance of winning anything.
ghshephard 13y ago
I've spent several hours playing Candy Crush. Interesting enough, it wasn't until I read the coercive monetary strategy document that I recognized that it was actually a cash-game masquerading as a skill game. And, btw, I have no problem with InApp purchases properly done. Paper by FiftyThree (extra tools), Build-A-Lot (extra levels), and Pioneer Lands (Extra Levels + Extra Game Mechanics + Careful balancing) - are just three examples where this is done really, really well. I have 401 Apps purchased/downloaded, I've spent north of $2K on the AppStore, and I don't begrudge game developers (Indy or otherwise), making $200mm on their games - I just don't like to see them preying on vulnerable emotions to do so, or making money by resetting a "Just need 5 more moves" counter - that's just lame.

jacques_chester 13y ago

In the exact article linked it is explained that Candy Crush starts as a skill game and then makes a subtle shift to being a money game. If a casino was changing a game from skill to luck in the middle of play they would be shut down.

rdouble 13y ago
Criticisms of these games always include references to casino games, but aren't they more just like arcade games? Most arcade games you have to keep paying to stay alive, also. As a side note, I'm not sure how seriously one should take an article that is a giant jpeg hosted on download-free-games.com.
- jacques_chester 13y ago
  Arcade machines never took credit cards. If they had, our parallels would be drawn differently.
  - rdouble 13y ago
    Casino games don't take credit cards, either.
    - jacques_chester 13y ago
      Because they're banned from doing so.
samolang 13y ago
How is that any different from the freemium business model? They offer a lot of playing time for free and if you really enjoy the game, then you're willing to pay for more.

pbhjpbhj 13y ago

I used to play bejeweled, the free online version, quite content in the knowledge that it was effectively a Skinner box. I was seriously in the zone of compulsive behaviour there - could play it for hours. But then they started really optimising the visual and aural feedback mechanisms and heavily pushing the money side with bought boosts and such like. At that point it just became a game of how much money are you prepared to waste. Haven't played since. I'm assuming candy crush is the latest in this line of game?

jameskilton 13y ago
Candy Crush takes this to the extreme. There is no long-running purchase options, everything you buy are one-off boosts or (I'm serious here), 5 more turns on your current level. And none of these guarantee that you will actually pass the current level. In fact, you learn quickly that most levels will be deemed "winnable" within the first few moves, whereas the rest are exercises in frustration and randomness. Candy Crush is the epitome of Pay 2 Win when you remove all scruples from the equation. Candy Crush is a literal slot machine but without the chance of winning anything.

ghshephard 13y ago

I've spent several hours playing Candy Crush. Interesting enough, it wasn't until I read the coercive monetary strategy document that I recognized that it was actually a cash-game masquerading as a skill game. And, btw, I have no problem with InApp purchases properly done. Paper by FiftyThree (extra tools), Build-A-Lot (extra levels), and Pioneer Lands (Extra Levels + Extra Game Mechanics + Careful balancing) - are just three examples where this is done really, really well. I have 401 Apps purchased/downloaded, I've spent north of $2K on the AppStore, and I don't begrudge game developers (Indy or otherwise), making $200mm on their games - I just don't like to see them preying on vulnerable emotions to do so, or making money by resetting a "Just need 5 more moves" counter - that's just lame.