作者：Eliana Dockterman

如果你从未听过《Candy Crush》，我会对你说这是一款极让人上瘾的游戏，有些家长甚至玩到忘了去学校接孩子回家，忽略了家务事，甚至为了到达全新的游戏关卡而做些伤害自己的事。

这款应用在手机上发行1年多以来，玩家玩《Candy Crush》的次数已经有1510亿次。这是第一款同时出现在iOS，Android和Facebook排行榜榜首位置的游戏。《Candy Crush》开发商King这家总部位于斯德哥尔摩的公司表示，在Facebook上每23名用户中就有1名在玩这款游戏。尽管《Candy Crush》是免费的，但玩家选择进行的游戏内部购买却不断增加。Think Gaming估计这款游戏每天能够赚到875382美元的收益。（与之相比，另外一款大受欢迎的手机游戏《愤怒的小鸟》每天的收益也才6381美元。）

由Ask Your Target Market所组织的一次调查咨询了1000名玩家，并发现32%的玩家忽视了朋友和家庭而沉迷于游戏中，28%的玩家会在工作的时候玩游戏，10%的玩家会与一些重要的人讨论他们玩了多久的游戏，还有30%的玩家表示他们“上瘾了”。

但市场上还有许多很有趣的游戏，为什么这款游戏却如此让人上瘾呢？

我们询问了游戏的其中一名设计师Tommy Palm，King团队到底做了什么才让玩家们如此上瘾。我们同样也咨询了一些心理专家和玩家去理解他们的战术如此有效的背景故事。以下是《Candy Crush》让我们难以抵挡住诱惑的9大原因：

Candy Crush（from appguru）

1.让你等待

也许《Candy Crush》最出色的元素便是让你渴望它的能力。你有5次机会去排列所需的糖果图标数量。当你用完了所有声明时，你将不得不等上30分钟才能继续游戏。或者，如果你一点耐心都没有，也可以选择花钱回到游戏中—-这也是游戏赚钱的主要方法。Andy Jarc，少数在游戏中到达了440关卡的一名玩家表示：“你不能一直游戏。你将会用光生命。所以实际上它们是在驱使你，就像魔法一样，‘你总是想要一些不能得到的东西。’因为我们没有更多的生命，所以我想要得到它们。”

设计师Palm说道：“我认为这让游戏能够具有长久的乐趣。如果你拥有一款能够消耗许多精神带宽的游戏，你将不会注意到饥饿也不用上厕所便能够继续游戏。但之后你将开始暴饮暴食并最终停止游戏。从娱乐角度来看，创造一个更加平衡，让你能够自然停止的体验会更棒。”

2.我们都对甜言蜜语不可自拔

当你排出一行四个糖果时，它们便会消失。上面的糖果会掉下，从而可能创造出更多的匹配。最后屏幕上会弹出一些字，并伴随着一个声音响起：“Sweet”或者“Delicious”。这样的反馈对于玩家的沉浸感是非常必要的。网络和游戏上瘾先去专家Kimberly Young教授说道：“积极的奖励是人们沉浸于某些事物的主要原因。当你在玩游戏时，你会更加自我良好。”

3.你可以用一只手玩游戏

根据Palm，图标和设置的创造让玩家可以多任务化。你可以在玩《Candy Crush》的同时喝水，提带子，抱着地铁的扶手或将手机隐藏在桌底。这是一个巨大的优势，让玩家可以在坐车的时候轻松地游戏，能在医院等待叫号的时候游戏，并且还能帮助你度过无聊的会议。加之，你还可以进行离线游戏，所以即使你进入隧道中也不会突然停掉。

4.总是会有更多

根据Palm，《Candy Crush》团队总是不断地更新游戏并且每隔两周创造出新的关卡。现在游戏中共有544个关卡。King表示：3年前，带有30个关卡的游戏都算是非常惊人了。而现在这款游戏更是提升了手机游戏可以也将具有的内容容量。“

还加上在任何单独关卡中都不可能遭遇失败。如果你在游戏板上用光了所有的选择，那么该游戏板将会进行重置。额就是你从来都不会陷入僵局。你也不会遭遇失败。心理学家Dianh Miller教授（曾经写过有关《愤怒的小鸟》的上瘾元素）说道：我相信这是保持你继续游戏的一个强化模式。”游戏只会在玩家用光所有专门分配的移动时结束，“而你将通过花钱去结束这种挫败。”

5.你不一定要花钱——但如果你想要这么做，你便能够轻松做到

King表示，在最后一个关卡的所有玩家中，有超过60%的人并未花过1分钱去获取额外的生命或机会到达这里。但如果你想要花钱，你便能够轻松地做到。连接到Facebook或应用商店？你只需要轻松点击便可。

6.它激发了我们内心深处的童心

Palm说道：“许多人从孩童时期起便对糖果有种莫名的憧憬。而这款游戏只是使用许多颜色和有趣的形状去创造一个带有华丽视觉效果的游戏面板。”实际上，当你在玩游戏时，你将会觉得自己进入了一个完整的《糖果乐园》体验中。游戏的阻块是糖果，游戏的主页看起来就像是传统的《糖果乐园》游戏板，并且你的Facebook好友的图像还会呈现在该游戏板上，你将知道他们正专注于哪个关卡中。

7.具有社交性

社交游戏（游戏邦注：任何允许你通过像Facebook等社交媒体平台与朋友联系的游戏）已经开始腾飞。不管是《Words With Friends》，《亚瑟王国》还是《Candy Crush》，能够一起游戏或相互竞争的好友都是非常诱人的因素。Young说道：“看，没人来看我，因为他们都沉浸于《Candy Crush》中。这具有更强的社交瘾性。”

8.这是一种逃避

Young说道：“当你在阅读有关游戏的研究时，你将此会着眼于那些从生活中的某些事情上分享的人。”排列糖果的放松体验以及欢快的音乐都是最佳的解压方式。

9.根据玩家的反应做出完善

这并不是你平时所认识的“三消”游戏。Jarc说道：“我开始游戏，一开始我觉得它就是一款《宝石迷阵闪电战》。但当我更深入地游戏时，便越发觉得不可自拔。”

King高度专注于更新游戏玩法的行为让其游戏的质量高于其它休闲游戏。当玩家前往Facebook去传达他们在第65关（显然这是这款游戏最困难的关卡之一）受挫时，King便会修改游戏并让它变得不再那么困难。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Candy Crush Saga: The Science Behind Our Addiction

By Eliana Dockterman

If you haven’t heard of Candy Crush, it’s the mobile game that’s so addictive, players say they have left their children stranded at school, abandoned housework and even injured themselves as they try to reach new levels of the game.

Candy Crush has been played 151 billion times since it launched as an app on mobile devices exactly year ago. And it’s the first game to ever be No. 1 on iOS, Android and Facebook at the same time. Candy Crush’s creator, King, a Stockholm-based company, says 1 in every 23 Facebook users plays it. And while Candy Crush is free, the in-game purchases that some players choose to make add up. Think Gaming, which releases gaming analytics, estimates that it takes in $875,382 per day. (By comparison, another insanely popular mobile game, Angry Birds, takes in an estimated $6,381 daily.)

(MORE: Quiz: How Addicted Are You to Candy Crush?)

All that adds up to some seriously distracted users. A survey by Ask Your Target Market polled 1,000 players and found that 32% of them ignored friends or family to play the game, 28% played during work, 10% got into arguments with significant others over how long they played, and 30% said they were “addicted.”

But there are lots of amusing games out there, so what’s so addictive about this one?

We asked Tommy Palm, one of the game’s designers, what the King team did to get us hooked. We also called a few psychology experts and players to understand the backstory on why their tactics worked so well. Here are the nine reasons they say Candy Crush is so irresistible:

1. It Makes You Wait

Perhaps the most genius element of Candy Crush is its ability to make you long for it. You get five chances (lives) to line up the requisite number of candy icons. Once you run out of lives, you have to wait in 30-minute increments to continue play. Or, if you’re impatient, you can pay to get back in the game — which is why it’s bringing in so much revenue. “You can’t just play all the time. You run out of lives,” says Andy Jarc, 22, one of the few players to reach level 440 in the game. “So the fact that they kind of constrain you — the whole mantra, ‘You always want what you can’t have.’ I can’t have more lives and I want them.”

“I think it makes the game more fun long term,” says designer Palm. “If you have a game that consumes a lot of mental bandwidth, you will continue playing it without noticing that you’re hungry or need to go to the bathroom. But then you binge and eventually you stop playing. It’s much better from an entertainment point of view to create a more balanced experience where you have natural breaks.”

2. We’re All Suckers for Sweet Talk

You flick four candies in a row, and they zap away. Candies above begin to cascade down, making even more matches. At the end words pop up on your screen, accompanied by a voice that says “Sweet” or “Delicious.” This feedback is essential for player immersion. “Positive rewards are the main reason people become addicted to things,” says Dr. Kimberly Young, a pioneering expert on Internet and gaming addiction who treats those addicted to the cyberworld. “When you play the game, you feel better about yourself.”

3. You Can Play With One Hand

According to Palm, the icons and setup were created so players could multitask. You can play Candy Crush while carrying a drink, toting a purse or bag, clinging to a subway pole, or hiding your phone under the table. That’s a huge advantage and makes this game perfect for a train ride, a distraction while you’re waiting to see a doctor, or something to get you through boring meetings. Plus, you can play offline as well — so even if you’re stuck in a tunnel, you can be “crushing.”

4. There’s Always More

According to Palm, the Candy Crush team updates the game constantly and creates new levels every two weeks. Right now there are 544 levels. “Just three years ago, a game with 30 levels would be astonishing,” King says. “And now with this game, it has raised the bar with how much content a mobile game should and will have.”

Plus, on any single level, there’s no way to fail. If you run out of options on a board — and that happens once in a blue moon — the board immediately resets. You never get stuck. You can’t lose. “I believe this is part of the reinforcing pattern which keeps you playing,” says Dr. Dinah Miller, a psychiatrist who has written about the addicting elements of another popular game, Angry Birds. The game only ends when you’ve run out of your allotted number of moves “and you can end that frustration by buying your way out.”

5. You Don’t Have to Pay – but if You Want to, It’s Easy

King reports that of all the players on its last level — 544 — more than 60% of them didn’t pay a cent to buy extra lives or chances to get there. But if you want to pay, it’s easy. Connected to Facebook or the app store? Just click to pay.

6. It Taps Into Our Inner Child

“Many people have had a very positive feeling about candy since they were kids,” says Palm. “And it makes for a really nice visual game board with a lot of color and interesting shapes.” In fact, when you play you feel as if you’re transported into an entire Candy Land experience. The game pieces are candy, and the homepage for the game looks like the traditional Candy Land board, with your Facebook friends’ pictures displayed as pieces on that board, sitting at whatever level they’re stuck on.

7. It’s Social

Social games — any game that allows you to connect with your friends through a social-media platform like Facebook — have taken off. Whether it’s Words With Friends, Kingdoms of Camelot or Candy Crush, the ability to play with, or compete against, friends is irresistible. “Look, nobody’s coming to me because they have a clinical addiction to Candy Crush,” says Young. “It’s more of a social addiction, if you will.”

8. It’s an Escape

“When you read the research about gaming,” Young says, “you’re often looking at people who are distracting themselves from something in their lives.” The relaxing exercise of lining up candies to the tune of upbeat music is a perfect stress reliever.

9.  It Grows on You

This isn’t your average “line up three” game. “I started playing, and at first I was like whatever, it’s just bejeweled,” says Jarc. “But as I played more and more, it became addicting.”

King’s high-level of attentiveness toward updating gameplay has made it better quality than most casual games that are out there. When players took to Facebook to express their frustration with level 65 — notoriously one of the hardest levels in the game — King went into the game and altered the level to make it easier (though not too easy) multiple times.(source:time)