Photo: Courtesy of King.
Ladies, it's time for an intervention. Are you one of the 25 to 55-year-olds contributing to the largest demographic of Candy Crush Saga players, according to King.com? Do you find yourself having "a sneaky game or two at lunchtime" like Lucy Berkley? Has your "housework gone to pot" like Jenni Weaver, because you're spending upwards of 12 hours aligning similar sweets for the joy of watching them explode? If you're nodding and whispering quiet affirmatives to yourself, you should know you're not alone.
According to AppData, over 700 million games of Candy Crush Saga are played each day with a high percentage being played by women. "Candy Crush is one of those gender-neutral games that has a 'moreish' quality that can fit in flexibly around a woman’s life," Professor Mark Griffiths, director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University told the Daily Mail. Its deceptively simple and coy ways of looping you in with random prizes and the whole no-one-loses mentality keeps people coming back for more. It's here that the game makes its money.
Think Gaming estimates that King.com makes over $850,000 a day off Candy Crush. With level boosters costing as little as $1.50, women are unknowingly throwing away tons of money trying to level up. "I've probably spent around $240 playing it," Berkley says. "But it's worth it." 200 bucks? For a mobile game? It's happening, y'all. All those in-game purchases add up.
If you or a loved one are showing signs of Candy Crush addiction, perhaps it's time you sat them down and addressed the situation. Admitting you have a problem is the first step towards overcoming it. There's always digital detox camp if you're candy crush obsessing rather than innocently, erm, crushing, too. (Daily Mail)