Crushing on my Candy addiction

The formula for consistent social media profits has been cracked, or perhaps more accurately, crushed. Unfortunately, the solution is eating my soul.

Let me back up. "Candy Crush Saga" is the most popular social media game ever, and the most addictive. A baffling 190 million people worldwide are using it. The Candy got me during a recent cold, when I was laid up and wondering, "What is this Candy Crush thing that I keep seeing on Facebook?"

It looked harmless enough at first. Rows of shiny little gumdrops and jelly beans, and all you have to do is arrange three in a row of the same color.

The first several rounds were a breeze, and I could see how my score stacked up against my Facebook friends — so many of them playing this game, and such a strange cross-section. The mommy/part-time engineer, the owner of a dance school, the do-nothing basement dweller, the high school math teacher — many ages and genders represented here.

Then my first Candy Crush hurdle: I had run out of lives. Oh well. Time to start over. But wait … I have to wait 20 minutes to earn another life, or I can pay 99-cents for a full set? Well, just this one time …

There's another way to get lives: You can beg friends for them. It forces you to connect and commiserate with friends.

And therein lies the genius formula. The route to instant gratification costs money, and they provide an instant circle of equally wayward friends to cheer you on.

Analysts believe this fad will live on far longer than previous runaway hits like "Farmville," "Texas Hold 'Em" and "Words with Friends." For starters, the rules are far simpler. There is no learning curve. And rather than pushing out sequels and add-ons, the makers of "Candy Crush Saga," a European company called King, have vowed to keep the game constantly evolving. And some of the levels are so difficult that winning feels like an accomplishment.

One of my friends was stuck on the same level for 30 days. "Sadly, I still played it several times a day," she reports. There's something about these colorful little candies.

I'm sure the fine folks at King consulted industrial psychologists in their quest to create an addiction. What better way than to tap into society's disgusting love/hate relationship with sugary treats?

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