At face value Candy Crush Saga special candies seems pretty straightforward, but the longer you play the more important it is the you understand exactly what each of them does. On some of the harder levels using a special candy, or sometimes multiple special candies, is required for you to win. As such, becoming an expert at the special candy creation strategies is essential. The challenge isn't over once you've acquired the special candies either, because you'll need to consider how to maneuver them into the best position for use, including positioning and use for special candy combos. Once you've mastered these strategies for special candy creation, maneuvering, and use of special candy combos you'll be able to take on any of the toughest Candy Crush Saga levels (with a little luck :) ).
Candy Crush Saga Special Candies
Striped Candy
The striped candy is the easiest special candy to get, but in spite of that it is still quite powerful. Probably one of the more poorly explained aspects of the game is the way striped candy is formed. Candy Crush Saga beginners will quickly realize that a match of four candies will generate a striped candy - that's the easy part. It's also pretty obvious that when you use the striped candy in a combo, it will attempt to knock out a whole row or column. The next common question is "How do I control the direction of a striped candy?" The answer is in the direction of the stripes. The direction you move the last piece that forms the four candy combo will decide the direction of the stripes on the striped candy. If you moved the last candy vertically to form the striped candy, the stripes will be vertical. If you moved it horizontally, the stripes will be horizontal. When you activate it, it will knock out a row if it has horizontal stripes, and a column if it has vertical stripes. Pretty simple once you figure it out, but it can be quite confusing if you are not paying attention to the stripe direction.
Striped Candy Tips and Tricks
The striped candy really excels in certain situations, and since it is the easiest to get, you should master its usage.
- The striped candy + wrapped candy combo is arguably the most powerful special candy combo in the game. When you have a wrapped candy or can make one, consider saving your striped candy to make a special combo. See more in the Special Candy Combos section below.
- The striped candy + striped candy combo always knocks out a row and a combo starting at the site where the candies merged, regardless of the stripe direction of the two candies. See more in the Special Candy Combos section below.
- The striped candy + color bomb is another powerhouse combo. See more in the Special Candy Combos section below.
- Vertical striped candies are excellent for "ingredient" levels. On these same levels horizontal striped candies are close to worthless, so don't bother with them unless you are going for a special candy combo. Make sure you consider both how you will form the vertical striped candy, and how you will maneuver it into the same column as the ingredient.
- Striped candies are a simple way to knock out a ton of jellies or chocolate. Try and position them for maximum damage on a full row or column.
- Striped candies are sometimes required to hit candies which are outside the area you can move candies. Take notice of these situations at the beginning of the level, and prioritize creation of striped candies, with the right stripe direction.
Wrapped Candy
The wrapped candy is a much more difficult candy to acquire, in my opinion, without a benefit that is proportional. You can form a wrapped candy with a "plus", "t-shape" or "corner-shape" which combines at least 3 vertical candies with at least 3 horizontal candies. Beyond that, forming it is not that hard to conceptually, but practically it can often be challenging. When you create a match with a wrapped candy, it creates a small explosion that knocks out the nine candy box which surrounds it. It then drops down through those destroyed candies and explodes in the same way again.
Wrapped Candy Tips and Tricks
The wrapped candy doesn't have the wide number of applications of the striped candy, but there are a few important ones to consider.
- As previously mentioned, the striped candy + wrapped candy combo is super powerful. I'll explain more in the special candy combos section, but nine times out of ten I save my wrapped candies for this purpose.
- Wrapped candies are good at clearing up a blocked area where you don't have a lot of matches. It's uncommon, but sometimes they can be a lot of help towards the bottom of an ingredients level with a narrow opening. If you are sure that you've got no shot at the striped/wrapped combo, they can also be useful in clearing jellies or chocolate.
Color Bomb
With its appearance and the difficulty in acquiring it, you might think the color bomb was the best special candy. By itself, I think that is debatable. Creating a color bomb requires that you match five candies in a row. Sometimes this just happens naturally, but if your trying to set it up I recommend creating a pattern of O O X O O , where "O's" are the candy to be matched, and "X" is a random other candy. If you make the pattern vertically, then you can use vertical matches on either side to try and drop the target candy down for a horizontal slide in. If you make the pattern horizontally, use vertical matches in the column of the "X" to try for a match. Color bombs don't get matched in the traditional way. Instead, any regular candy you swap with the color bomb causes it to explode and destroy all of that color candy on the screen. This may sound awesome, but practically it doesn't help you that much on the more challenging levels. The color bomb can really excel in the special candy combo department though. Read on for details.
Color Bomb Tips and Tricks
As I mentioned, the color bomb is hard to acquire and yet narrower in its usefulness. There are a couple of excellent applications though.
- While fairly hard to accomplish, the Striped Candy + Color Bomb special candy combo can often be a "game winning" move. It is worth some sacrifice of turns to try and make it happen.
- For target candies that are out of the "matchable" area on jelly or bomb levels, the color bomb is an effective, if expensive, way to remove them. Try to reserve this approach until you are desperate though, since the color bomb is better saved for special combos.
- In the rare circumstance you can get two color bombs and be able to match them, you are in for a real treat. First of all, this can win the game, but secondly - just do it. You won't have option that often, and it is fun.
Continue reading part two, to learn all about special candy combinations.