Hello!

Each week I’m going to send out a note about my game of the week. This is week 2. If you got the email last week, you can now reminisce about the good old days.

Feel free to pass this email on to whoever you think would be interested. And if you’d like to see last week’s email (on Amazing Alex), or if you want me to stop emailing you, just let me know.

The second ever game of the week is Candy Crush Saga – https://apps.facebook.com/candycrush/

How does it work?

Candy Crush Saga is a ‘match-3’ game – so the aim is to swap candies around in order to get three in a line. When you get three in a line, those three disappear and the pieces above fall down into their place. There’s plenty of variety between rounds, some cool boosters available, pretty design and some neat sound effects (see if you can get the voice-over to say ‘Sweeeeet’ and you’ll know what I mean).

How does it make money?

You can play for free, but the game makes money by charging for extra moves and for items with special powers. 3.9m people will be playing Candy Crush Saga today (though I think this email may bump that up a little), and 13.7m have played it over the past month.

Why is it important right now?

This is the latest in King.com’s ‘Saga’ series of games. The Saga games have a recognisable format. The main action takes place in self-contained levels like the one pictured here, but the levels are connected by an overarching narrative. This helps with retention because it adds an extra layer of meaning to what happens in the game. And retention is crucial at the moment because user acquisition costs on Facebook have been rising for some time.

Check out Candy Crush Saga, and let me know what you think!

Cheers,

Todd