Candy Crush All-Stars is the world’s largest event for King’s Candy Crush Saga. In its fourth iteration, and its largest thus far, this months-long occasion presents a $1 million prize pool to the sport’s most elite gamers. However, you might be questioning, how does somebody turn into a top-level Candy Crush participant? And the way do you construct a event to assist them show that?
With the occasion coming to a shut final week, we caught up with a few of Candy Crush’s degree designers, in addition to Ben Chin, who took on over 15 million opponents to turn into Candy Crush All-Stars 2024’s general winner. Collectively, they gave us a sense of how one of many world’s largest informal video games, open to anybody, can provide a problem befitting of that million-dollar prize pool.
For Chin, there are some key abilities you should attain the highest degree: “You positively want tenacity and endurance. Getting via the completely different phases main as much as the All Stars finals, it requires a lot of effort and time for certain – particularly when you get to these closing knockout phases. The final spherical is 24 hours, and that’s all you’ve got. So you really want to have the ability to go the gap and be capable to pull it out right through.”
From a design perspective, the usual of the gamers concerned meant the group wanted to create one thing that feels acquainted, however with a new degree of problem, befitting of the ten gamers who made it right through to the grand closing.
“Our inspiration for the All Stars Dwell Ultimate got here from a want to create one thing that each honored the basic parts of Candy Crush Saga and launched new, thrilling challenges for our finalists,” explains Lead Stage Designer, Therese Sander.
“We wished to have a good time the journey gamers have taken with us by providing ranges which might be visually interesting, however mechanically intriguing,” added Stage Designer Oksana Samsonova. “We’ve created 9 customized ranges for our finalists [with] varied challenges – completely different modes, the most recent sport mechanics and replicas of some iconic ranges from the sport.”
These 9 ranges required a distinctive design temporary – the group wanted to create phases that labored with out the same old sport financial system and boosters that gamers have out there, and every one wanted to really feel completely distinct, forcing new approaches out of the finalists with every new degree. Via in depth guide testing on the group, the extent designers emerged with a set of phases that demanded the finalists refine their method:
“I truly employed a number of completely different methods all through the course of the event in addition to within the finals” says Chin. “These issues included simply being very sensible about how you utilize your strikes – when it’s correct to get via a degree as shortly as potential versus sticking round a degree for so long as potential simply to maximise what number of factors you truly earn per degree.”
In a method, the finals act as a ‘battle’ between the extent designers and the gamers themselves. With elite gamers taking over the problem, the designers are free to create ranges which may not really feel fairly as approachable when you got here throughout them within the common sport.
“Whereas the core sport steadily will increase in complexity, event ranges are designed to problem gamers’ superior abilities proper from the beginning,” says Sander. “This implies incorporating extra advanced mechanics, requiring faster pondering, and sometimes demanding a greater degree of strategic planning. We goal to create ranges that push gamers to make use of the whole lot they’ve realized within the sport to this point and suppose creatively to beat new obstacles.”
That complexity meant that Chin needed to up his sport, even from his personal excessive requirements: “When it got here to the aggressive nature of it, you actually should take a look, observe the extent and, actually establish, ‘OK, I’ve a restricted set of time and strikes and completely different targets. I’ve obtained blockers in my method. What are the blockers?’ I’ve by no means deliberate greater than on this event. I believe that’s going to hold over into the way forward for me taking part in this sport.”
That’s precisely the purpose for the designers: “Probably the most rewarding half is seeing the enjoyment and pleasure gamers expertise after they play the degrees. Watching gamers uncover new methods, overcome challenges, and share their experiences is extremely fulfilling,” says Samsonova.
And in flip, watching the sport’s finest gamers tackle their ranges ought to result in much more thrilling designs later: “Watching elite-level gamers sort out our phases has been extremely insightful,” Samsonova continues. “These gamers usually make use of methods and strategies that we hadn’t anticipated, showcasing the depth and potential of our sport mechanics.”
“Observing their gameplay helps us perceive the right way to design ranges which might be difficult but truthful, and it additionally conjures up us to create new mechanics that may present even deeper and extra advanced gameplay experiences,” provides Sander. “It’s all the time fascinating to see how inventive and strategic gamers might be!”
It makes Candy Crush All-Stars a actually distinctive event, elevating a sport loved by lots of of tens of millions – at many talent ranges – into one thing aggressive at an extremely excessive normal. For Chin – who says he can’t pinpoint the second he realized he was taking part in at an elite degree – it’s been a revelation:
“For me personally, I’ve all the time been a fairly aggressive gamer, amongst different video games as properly. And initially for Candy Crush, it was form of my time-killer sport till the potential for popping out right here to compete was out there. With the ability to simply put on a regular basis and energy into it, and with the ability to play towards different people who find themselves equally nearly as good as one another, it was a lot of enjoyable and it was very thrilling. And I believe that pleasure was actually what units that aside from simply taking part in casually.”
It’s been a banner second for Chin, who can now name himself the world’s best Candy Crush participant: “It was such an overwhelming feeling at first simply to be up there and even thought of one of many prime ten on this planet. I used to be so honoured to be amongst them and work together with all of them. All of us have the fervour of taking part in Candy Crush collectively, and with the ability to bond over that was completely unbelievable.”