How Can You Crush Jelly Anyway

    It's the final summary of my Candy Crush compendium.  This time the focus is on Candy Crush Jelly.  Of the three games, it is the one I have really played the least, as it has the most differences between the three games.  First, it only has three modes, although with two versions of each.  There is the normal challenge mode as well as a competitive mode against a computer-controlled character for each of the three. Next, there are much fewer tools available.  Many of the ones I heavily rely on in the other two games are pretty much absent here. Sure, one or two have been available for free, but for the majority of the time, they are locked behind a paywall. Therefore, I have to rely on the boosters that are free each day.

    That is a hallmark of this game.  For every consecutive day you log in, you get one in a cycle of bonuses that last two hours.  On the first day, you get nothing.  By the seventh and last day, you get two bonuses running at the same time.  I try very hard to advance as much as I can on that day.  Then, the cycle repeats. I must admit that I have missed days over the years, due to such things as a three day power outage and the death of my first MacBook. Still, I've managed to maintain my streak for the most part, even when an unexpected refresh has ruined my chances for utilizing these daily power-ups.

    To get the most out of these bonuses, I have developed a unique playing style. First, I log in for the day about the same time each day, so I can make sure the bonuses are steady. This doesn't really matter much on the first day, but it is crucial for the others. Next, I play until I am down to just two lives.  Depending on the difficulty, this can take a little as three tries on one level or beating up to four or more levels at one go. Then, I stop. Each life takes thirty minutes to refresh. I wait the ninety minutes for those lives to come back before I start playing again. I usually have just under thirty minutes left on the bonuses by the time I start back, depending upon how much I have to do in the ninety minute waiting time. This is usually enough time to fully enjoy playing before the daily bonus expires. Sometimes, the lives are used up before the bonus is over.  At other times, the opposite happens, and the bonus ends just before I run out of lives.  While it sucks to have to stop playing early, it also helps me to limit my playing time overall. (On the day without any bonuses, I usually just play one level.  If I lose, I'm done for the day. If I win, I might play one more level, but I usually stop after just one.)

    And that's all for my Candy Crush collection. Next week I'll be talking about something completely different.