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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Candy Crush Saga vs Candy Crush Friends Saga

Candy Crush Saga 4.7★ · Free + IAP 70
Winner Candy Crush Saga
Candy Crush Friends Saga 4.8★ · Free + IAP 55

Candy Crush Saga is the better choice for players seeking the original, widely popular match-3 experience, despite its aggressive monetization and ad issues, while Candy Crush Friends Saga offers a character-driven twist but suffers from more severe technical glitches and disappearing content.

Full reviews: Candy Crush Saga · Candy Crush Friends Saga

Candy Crush Saga, the original, remains a highly addictive puzzle game with a vast number of levels, though it's frequently criticized for excessive ads and in-app purchase pushes. Candy Crush Friends Saga introduces characters and unique gameplay, but recent updates have led to numerous bugs, crashes, and missing events, diminishing the user experience.

Head to head

Gameplay & Features edge: Candy Crush SagaR5R16R17R20
Candy Crush Saga Candy Crush Saga is praised for its fun, addictive, and challenging gameplay with plenty of levels R5R20. Users enjoy the core match-3 mechanics and find it a great time consumer . Some appreciate the intelligent random candy colored jelly fish R17. However, recent updates have removed bonus plays R21 and made levels significantly harder, pushing players towards purchases R16R22R43. There are also complaints about too many side games and collection junk distracting from the main game .
Candy Crush Friends Saga Candy Crush Friends Saga is also seen as fun and challenging, with users enjoying the characters, new costumes, and holiday themes . It offers a 'fun spin on the original game' . However, many levels are described as boring and impossible without paying . A significant issue is the frequent disappearance of events, challenges, and rewards . Users also report power-ups not always working correctly or appearing in useless locations .
Ease of Use & User Experience tieR1R5R6R9
Candy Crush Saga Candy Crush Saga is generally easy to pick up and play R5. However, the user experience is heavily marred by an overwhelming number of pop-up ads and promotional offers R5R6R9. These interruptions often make accessing the next level a burden, sometimes taking twice as long as playing the level itself . Ads are frequently long, freeze the game, or cannot be closed, forcing users to restart the app R1R9.
Candy Crush Friends Saga Candy Crush Friends Saga also suffers from long and frequent commercials that often freeze the screen or crash the game . Some ads are loud with no mute button . Users also report the game running very slowly with significant lag compared to the original Candy Crush . The game's design is criticized for making winning a chore .
Reliability & Performance edge: Candy Crush SagaR1R7R28R30
Candy Crush Saga Candy Crush Saga users frequently report the game freezing, especially when they are about to win, leading to lost progress and wasted boosts R1R7R30. Crashes are also common, particularly during longer play sessions or high streaks, resulting in loss of power-ups and lives R28. Some users note issues with the daily treat machine and booster wheel needing repair .
Candy Crush Friends Saga Candy Crush Friends Saga has significant reliability issues, with multiple reports of the game crashing, especially after updates or when specific characters (like Yeti) are used . Users experience lost progress, sometimes reverting from high levels to very low ones . Events and rewards frequently disappear or fail to trigger . There are also reports of characters not throwing special candies when collected and specific levels having glitches that cause immediate losses .
Price & Value tieR3R16R22R43
Candy Crush Saga Candy Crush Saga is free to play but heavily criticized for constant pushes for microtransactions, paywalls, and forcing purchases to pass difficult levels R3R16R22R43. Users feel the game is 'fixed' to encourage spending, with special candies appearing strategically to tempt purchases . While some find it cheap for gold bars , others consider it 'too expensive' .
Candy Crush Friends Saga Candy Crush Friends Saga also faces strong criticism for its monetization strategy. Users feel the game is engineered to frustrate and push overpriced boosters and lives . Levels are often impossible without paying for extra moves or gold bars . The removal of ads for extra moves is seen as a deliberate tactic to force spending . Users complain about higher costs for extra moves compared to other games .
Support & Updates edge: Candy Crush SagaR18R21R24R42
Candy Crush Saga Candy Crush Saga users report issues with updates removing features like bonus plays R21 and changing the age rating R42. There are complaints about lost lives R24 and unreceived rewards R18. Some users question the decision-making behind updates R21 and feel the developers don't take notice of complaints about freezing ads .
Candy Crush Friends Saga Candy Crush Friends Saga users are highly frustrated with recent updates causing numerous bugs, including game crashes, disappearing events, and non-functional characters . Users feel the developers are neglecting the game and not fixing long-standing issues . Some mention being unable to update the app at all .
Pick Candy Crush Saga if

You want the classic, widely recognized Candy Crush experience with a massive number of levels and generally stable core gameplay R5. You are willing to tolerate frequent ads and aggressive monetization in exchange for the original match-3 fun R5.

Pick Candy Crush Friends Saga if

You are looking for a variation of Candy Crush that includes characters and unique gameplay elements . You enjoy a challenge and are open to a game that might require strategic use of boosters, provided the technical issues are resolved .

Evidence note: Both apps are free with in-app purchases, and both suffer from significant complaints regarding ads and aggressive monetization. Candy Crush Saga's issues with ads and paywalls are extensive but seem to be more about frequency and intrusiveness, whereas Candy Crush Friends Saga has more severe issues with ads freezing the game and numerous bugs, crashes, and disappearing content that directly impact gameplay and progress.

Frequently asked

Do Candy Crush Saga and Candy Crush Friends Saga have a lot of ads?
Yes, both games are heavily criticized for having a large number of ads and pop-up promotions, which users find intrusive and disruptive to gameplay R5R6. Many ads are reported to be long, freeze the game, or cannot be closed, forcing players to restart the app R1R9.
Are the levels in Candy Crush games too difficult without paying?
Many users across both Candy Crush Saga and Candy Crush Friends Saga report that levels become excessively difficult, seemingly designed to force players into purchasing boosters or extra lives R3R16R22R43. Some players feel the games are 'fixed' to prevent winning without spending money .
Do Candy Crush games have technical issues like crashing or glitches?
Yes, both games experience technical issues, but Candy Crush Friends Saga appears to have more severe and frequent problems. Candy Crush Saga users report freezing and crashing, often leading to lost progress and wasted power-ups R1R7R28R30. Candy Crush Friends Saga users frequently complain about game crashes, especially after updates or when using specific characters, as well as widespread issues with events and rewards disappearing or not triggering correctly .

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R5] Candy Crush Saga 5/5 · US So you mf will stop asking me: Candy Crush is still a fun and addictive puzzle game with plenty of levels and satisfying gameplay. It’s easy to pick up and play for a few minutes or get lost in for much longer. The biggest downside is the constant pop-up ads and promotional offers. It feels like every time you finish a level, open the game, or return to the main screen, you’re hit with another of
  2. [R16] Candy Crush Saga 1/5 · US Level 18587 BORING AND STUPID: IMPOSSIBLE even with full boosts. I have played it dozens of times and can’t pass. THEY ARE FORCING YOU TO PURCHASE TO PLAY. SAD AND PATHETIC GAME. DONT WASTE YOUR TIME. 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻
  3. [R17] Candy Crush Saga 5/5 · US Win streak reason: The reason why I kept winning is all thanks to the very intelligent random candy colored jelly fish, it makes me excited when I win a round.
  4. [R20] Candy Crush Saga 5/5 · US Iced Coffee: Very fun, and challenging game.
  5. [R1] Candy Crush Saga 1/5 · US Ads: I am ready to cancel this game! Stop the long and stupid ads. I don’t want anything that you are advertising! They freeze up my iPad, and don’t give me my boosts!!!
  6. [R6] Candy Crush Saga 3/5 · US Too many ads: Said it all in the title
  7. [R9] Candy Crush Saga 3/5 · US Advertisement: Please, please remove the advertisements that can not be closed off of the screen. I need to constantly get out of the app then get back in. Ridiculous.
  8. [R7] Candy Crush Saga 1/5 · US Bad game: Game keeps crashing when winning. Wants more money. Rip off.
  9. [R28] Candy Crush Saga 1/5 · US Awful: Crashes every time I play on every level and waist my power ups and lives. And yes I’m running on the most current version
  10. [R30] Candy Crush Saga 3/5 · US App Freezes, You take a Loss: whenever the app feeezes, I lose the level >:(
  11. [R3] Candy Crush Saga 3/5 · US El stinky but good.: Very nice character design , good to pass time, but I will always hate the constant push for micro transactions and paywalls- “watch an ad to replay!” Its annoying it’s a shame that candy crush has succumbed to this level too
  12. [R22] Candy Crush Saga 2/5 · US Ya están difíciles: Ya están muy difíciles los mundos y a fuerzas quiere que compre corazones o bosters para pasarlos ya no te dan anuncios para poder agarrar más corazones
  13. [R43] Candy Crush Saga 2/5 · US Fed up!: After years of playing this game it has become seriously un fun lately, I’ve gone through some times before where it has been bad, but this is the worst! Every level takes days or weeks to get through and they have removed the chance for extra moves by watching ads. I guess the goal is to force me to use up my gold bars to win, but I only use them when there is a chance of winning somethi
  14. [R18] Candy Crush Saga 3/5 · US Pocket fm rewards: Where is my rewards? I have been playing to get rewards for pocket fm and have not received any.
  15. [R21] Candy Crush Saga 3/5 · US Horrible update ..who makes these decisions?: 3 updates ago king took away the bonus plays we could have (after watching ads)it was so much fun to be able to try finishing a level with those extra plays.Seriously!!! Why?Some of us play for the joy of it and that gave us the ability to move forward and just keep playing the game.Get it back,Please
  16. [R24] Candy Crush Saga 3/5 · US Where are my lives ?: I had hundreds of lives a week ago. They all disappeared and now I have 22 I realize I can only use 20 a day but it was nice to have that reserve. Please give my hard earned lives back
  17. [R42] Candy Crush Saga 3/5 · US Meh: Okay it’s not bad and I like it but my phone has restrictions so I downloaded this app then the age rating changed to 13+ so now I can’t play and that is just so frustrating so if yall could change that back to 9+ that would be great and I could play again

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store