Candy Crush Saga

With 544 levels and easy access, “Candy Crush” has become a phenomenon this year. It has been downloaded more than 500 million times onto players’ phones. Consultant Think Gaming says that Candy crush makes about $875,000 per day (Petroff, CNN Money). Though the game itself is free, many people buy extra boosts to race through levels. Ask Your Target Market surveyed 1,000 players and realized the addiction of the game: 32% of players ignore friends and/or family members to play the game, 28% play during work, 10% got into arguments with their partners because of how long they played, and 30% considered themselves “addicted”. This article gives a couple of reasons why people find this game so addicting.

As a Candy Crush player, I acknowledge that the game is addicting, but after reading the TIME article, I thought back to how I discovered the game: the Internet. When Candy Crush just started gaining popularity, my newsfeed on Facebook said that many of my friends were playing the game. It was not long until I started downloading the app onto my IPhone.

Because Candy Crush is so widely known, more and more people get sucked into the game. When you think about it, games and trends become popular because of society. When mass groups of people use a certain product or discuss a certain topic, everyone is influenced. With modern day technology, trends spread across the nation, and that’s how change works in America. People all over the country influence others and exchange trends.

How do Americans become addicted to certain trends or products? What do the types of trends we follow say about American values? How does our means of influence and exchange affect other Americans?