Candy Crush Soda Saga

Candy Crush Soda Saga doesn't sport a revolutionary new design - or even much in the way of features - but it refines an already addictive puzzle experience in small but meaningful ways. The formula here is the same as it's ever been. Match three or more adjacent candies of the same color to clear the board and reach score goals. But the inclusion of some new board elements change things in a serious way without being so complicated that it's accessible to new players.

These include soda that floods the board and changes the way gamers interact with candies, gummy bears hidden behind blocks of candies, and frosted pieces that require you to match adjacent tiles. It's a careful line to walk, but King Games has done a phenomenal job of creating a game that feels familiar while bringing enough fresh new materials to bring older players back.

Fortunately, the more complicated board rules also come with some new candies to help players. Swedish fish provide an automated, semi-intelligent way to clear squares that might be otherwise accessible, and a candy which targets all of the elements of a certain color. These new changes, fortunately, don't break the game. In fact, the balance here is exceptional. There's a smooth learning curve so newer players can get eased into the fundamentals. But while winning at older versions of the game at Candy Crush largely came down to a combination of luck and brute force, there's a greater sense of puzzle solving here. There's the sense that player strategy needs to be changed up depending on the layout of the board and the elements there.

And as is always the case with King games, the results here are very polished. While it retains the same board game feel of the original Candy Crush, this new game is bright and expressive - sporting an art style that helps you read the board without distractions.