BEHIND THE SCENES
Why is level 65 in Candy Crush so hard?
Candy Crush Saga
Sweet Match 3 Fun Puzzle Games
Millions of people have been stuck on level 65 of Candy Crush Saga over the years. The chart-conquering puzzle game from developer King might be best known for its bright and breezy matching, but it has also made a lot of people angry. Like, really angry.
Tobias Nyblom watched it all unfold first hand. It’s all pretty much his fault – he’s the original designer of most of the first 150 levels of Candy Crush Saga, including that rather contentious one. “Even though I very rarely announce that I’ve created that level, I’ve been asked at least a dozen times if I can help people complete it,” Nyblom tells us.
According to Nyblom, game developer King decided to make the level especially difficult because it was to be the last level of the game’s second update. “We wanted to give our players a real challenge, as we didn’t know how long it would take before we did another update,” he says.
Remember, this was before Candy Crush became the global phenomenon it is today.
“We playtested the level a lot, but I also remember tweaking it just a bit more an hour or so before the release,” Nyblom says. “During those very last rounds of playtesting, it seems possible that I had an unusual amount of luck on my side.”
The fiendish chocolate and liquorice blockers in level 65 quickly became notorious among players; but rather than causing people to abandon the game, it made them more determined to overcome it. “The feedback from the players was so encouraging that we decided to keep it like that,” says Nyblom. “It became the talk of the day amongst colleagues, friends and family.”
And initially, it was even more difficult than it is today. Players had to complete the challenge and reach a certain score to pass. “We soon realised this felt pretty unfair to our players, especially on the already difficult levels, and removed that requisite,” says Nyblom, who recalls one player posting on Facebook how they thought they’d finally passed the stage before realising they hadn’t reached the 150,000 points total. They cried themselves to sleep that night.
“All the emotions that people went through – frustration, rage and then the joy of completing it – helped form communities and a dedicated fan base,” says Nyblom.
Level 65 is a little easier now, and as Candy Crush Saga continues to evolve, Nyblom is incredibly proud of what the game has become. “It feels unreal to see that so many of those players are still with us after all those years,” he adds.
Never has a (nearly) accidental game design decision had so much impact on so many players. Years after it arrived to ease the tedium of your commute or fill an idle evening on the sofa, Candy Crush Saga continues to push players’ candy-swiping skills to the limit.