Save Your Special Candies
Don’t use the free boosters you get in the early levels until you get to the later levels. Most people will use these as soon as they can… but you shouldn’t. Once you get in the later levels, you will really be wishing you had those. You should at least and try and save them for one of the first hardest levels, candy crush level 70.
Know your objective
If a level requires you get a certain score as well as completing a task, make sure you’ve achieved that score before you make the final move to complete the task.
Learn to recognise the match patterns
Matching three candies is easy. You’re working on a 3×3 grid, and your brain will easily learn the pattern combinations that can make a three-candy match. Matching four and five candies is more difficult. I won’t go into the math here, but learn what you’re looking for. After each move you should stop and browse for any moves you may have missed. A lot of the times, you will find a special candy combinations you didn’t even see.
Crush candies at the bottom
For most levels, crushing candies at the bottom of the grid is the best strategy. There are exceptions to this as you progress through the game. The reason is that when you play from the bottom you have more chance of getting a combination at the top of the board. Many special candies are made automatically when you crush the bottom candies.
Make effective striped candies
When you find a four-candy match, you’re going to get a striped candy. The candy will be striped in the same direction as the candy you moved to make the match. So if you moved a candy down to make the match, you’ll get a vertical striped candy, and if you moved a candy across to make a match, you’ll get a horizontal striped candy. I got to level 80 beore I learned about this…
Plan your ingredients
There is no randomness as to when an ingredient appears on a level. Learn what triggers the ingredient to drop (usually the first swap after the last ingredient was cleared or reaching a particular amount of moves) and plan accordingly so that they go into the vertical column that’s easiest to clear.
We have a comprehensive summary for when you can expect the next ingredient to appear on all our ingredient level guides.
Moving ingredients across columns
There are five set ups where you can swap ingredients out of a column:
- One of the same candy above and one below the ingredient
- Two of the same candy above the ingredient
- Two of the same candy below the ingredient
- Two of the same candy to the right of the ingredient
- Two of the same candy to the left of the ingredient
Then when the matching candy lands next to an ingredient, you can swap the ingredient into the next column.
If you have one of the same candy to the right, and one to the left of an ingredient you will only be able to move the ingredient up or down, although this can be useful if the candy lands on a blocker.
Know where you’re at
If you hit ‘Quit’ on a level, it will tell you how many jelly you have left to get before you complete the level. It won’t force you to quit – it will give you the option to play on, and continue the game, so you can check your progress at any time.
Use the special combo cheat sheet
Knowing which special combinations do what is key to clearing some of the later levels. Use our special combo cheat sheet to discover the most effective solution for your level.
Destroy the distractions
Meringues, licorice, chocolate: if completion of the level requires that they be taken out, take them out early. Always destroy time bombs at the first opportunity (if the need to be destroyed…)
They’re messing with your mind
Timed bombs aren’t always a threat. For example,if you get a 14-move bomb, and you only have 11 moves left, do the math. You don’t need to worry about the bomb, your game will be over before it detonates.
Swim with the fishes
Fishes will go for whatever jelly is on the board. So if you use them near the end of the game, they will go straight for the hard-to-get jellies you’ve not managed to clear.
Reshuffle the board
When you enter a level and you are unsatisfied with the layout, there is actually a way to reshuffle the board without losing any lives. Before making any moves on a level, you can exit out of the level and re-enter the level and the board will have been shuffled. A match 4 or match 5 at the beginning of the level can be all it takes to win sometimes. For more information check out our article on How To Reshuffle Candy Crush Board.
Turn off boosts
If you’re using boosts for one level, remember to turn them off for the next. It’s easy to forget to uncheck the boosts in your eagerness to play the next level, but maybe you won’t need them..
Read the level guides
We have an extensive guide for each level that tells you how to beat the level. Simply browse our site to the level you are on and read a strategy guide and tips on how to pass the level. We also have walkthrough videos for each level that will show you exactly how its done. These also give you some hope if you have been stuck on a level for a long time.
