Level Design Needs You! Tell us how you like your moves!

ChickenGoujohn

Hey everyone!

My name's John and I'm currently the Lead Level Designer from the Candy Crush Friends Saga team here in our London studio!

Myself and the level design team work very hard to bring you new and exciting levels every single week - but we're always looking to improve what we do and that's why I'm excited to be able to reach out to you all directly, here on our community forums!
We want your opinions on some specific topics, to help us refine and improve the quality of the levels that you all see in the game. We really care what you guys think and would love to hear what you have to say. We think having a direct line of communication with our players is super-important and something we need to do more of, so here I am!

The plan will (hopefully) be for us to regularly reach out every 1-2 weeks with a specific topic related to level design and get some thoughts from you all so we can ensure you guys continue to love playing the game.

So for our first question:

We would love to hear how you feel about the length of our levels! Are they too long, too short, just perfect?

• How would you feel if levels were less than 20 moves?
• How would you feel if levels were more than 40 moves?

I really hope this is something that excites you all as much as it excites us! We can't wait to hear what you have to say, and for us to talk a lot more in the future.

KingChewy

Hi John @ChickenGoujohn - pleasure to meet you 🤗🤗. Thank you so much for taking the opportunity to reach out to our community 🙏🏻

My answers to your first feedback topic is I feel like the levels are pretty spot on in terms of length of moves allowed to complete them. Occasionally I feel like 1-2 an episode could use additional moves but sometimes with the luck of the board or the selection of the non recommended friend I can usually get by the level in a day max if it’s extremely tricky.

Cant wait to keep contributing more in the future!!

flew66

Hi John,
I think 30 moves is the right amount for regular level. For hard or super hard levels, I think the levels should be longer or more complex as implied by the categories. Hence, a few more moves are justified.
I personally don't enjoy levels that have less than 20 moves (except for those with Easter Eggs for extra moves). It's too short and usually is over before I know it. It makes the whole playing experience a bit less enjoyable.
Keep up the good work!

_Elsa_

Hi @ChickenGoujohn, now you will hear from a player who is not as high up in the game as the rest of them.  We all started at the same time but I am having difficulty clearing the levels.  I would say that 90-95% of the time I need those pre-boosters to help me clear the levels.  Once I have them I can make it through a few levels at once.  Cutting the moves down would definitely not work for me or any other player that is having difficulty like me.  Many times with your current number of moves I seem to run short of moves at the end when another couple of moves would have cleared it.  I sit there trying to decide "Buy the extra moves or end it and try again?"  So that's my thoughts from a player who loves your game but has difficulty clearing the levels.  

AbhinavSargar

Hi John, Welcome To The Community, 
Thanks for talking to players and community, First of all nice and pleased to meet you @ChickenGoujohn . 

Thanks for developing such a wonderful and lovely 3D candy Crush Game for everyone . Also, I appreciate your work since making the game more great . Thanks to your whole Level Designer and Whole Developer Team. 

I think Sometimes levels are super hard on normal levels that despite of having moves you can't complete them . For example, You have spread the jam level and you have choices of Yeti, Tiffi and Misty. Now In this level you have caramel blockers and you have to spread from one block (,which is in corner having a blocker) to whole board without having character of Odus or Nutcracker. So, in this place, it's hard to complete such level. 

Rather Talking about superhard levels, 35 moves are Fine. For Hard Levels, 30 moves are fine . For Normal Levels, 25 moves are fine. If a level is multi boarded or has long board that our current screen can't fit the whole board (Top to bottom board) (mainly seen in dunk the cookies and fill the hearts levels) then At most 50 levels are fine. 

Mr.John , I have an idea on the following link - please visit and tell about it, that will be my feedback to this discussion. 

https://community.king.com/en/candy-crush-friends-saga/discussion/275688/adding-new-things-in-the-game#latest

Read and please reply to this. 

Well I understand and I appreciate your hard work, and your team. You all are doing a great job. Congratulations on that. Maintaining this Spirit and Completing the SDLC of Candy Crush Friends Saga wasn't an easy task. Once again, Heartly Congratulations on the behalf of Candy Crush Friends Saga Community and it's Players. Thanks once again for making such a great game for everyone. Enjoy your time on this community Sir. 

mysticalmysty

Hi @ChickenGoujohn as the levels getting harder and harder ( I’m currently on 2059 ) I think 30-35 are the perfect numbers, because lately I’ve been depending on so much on boosters or luck to beat certain levels, specially on dunk the cookies or fill up the empty hearts levels. 

Sofia1992

Hey...Hi John or @ChickenGoujohn as you call yourself in that commnunity.
First of all, I will gonna congratulate you and your team for creating that amazing variety of levels every week.
I know how much hard you worked. I can see in every level that you put all your love and passion to create them and make a very special result for every player in CCFS.

Now about your question above, I will be glad to give you a answer and I hope to find it useful.
First of all, since I'm currently in level 561 and I saw and passed many levels in my way, I love how different every level is and especially the mechanics that you need to use in order to complete the level. For example, in 'Dunk the Cookie' Levels, I love that you have to break the blockers first in order cookies to fell into chocolate which is the most times in the bottom of panel. Seriously, I love how sweet and challenging those levels can be the most times, no matter if they are hard or not.

Now, about the length, I actually love short ones and I mean the ones who have only one small panel and that makes things easier for me.
But if you put it from the other side, short levels sometimes can have a small amount of moves which makes them very challenging.
And about the big levels or the ones with more than one panels in the level, those need more moves which makes them easy but not always though cause you might encounter something new in those levels for example... a new blocker and the player might needs some time to think how to remove it.

And about the move part in levels and since I played every kind of levels (from normal ones until the hardest ones and vice versa and if you count and the events too) , I would say this: In hard levels and super hard levels need 35-38 moves to be completed but sometimes, still it's not enough if you count the experience of the player in this game, the available characters and their abilities and if you play with stragety or with boosters only or you might just want to have fun.
The normal ones from the other side needs 25-28 moves but still it depends the factors that I explained in my previous sentence.

Well that's all. I hope I helped you and if you need something else, just ask me.
And also, I'm glad that I met you and keep up the good job.
I can't wait to see more designs of those new levels from you and your team!
Have a nice day!

firebombmarkus

Hi John 😊 @ChickenGoujohn Thank you for visiting our dear Community! I think it's very cool that you are looking for the players' feedback. I think that for most levels 35 moves would be great. Those levels with less than 20 moves are fine for me. They usually have the chocolate egg that brings +5 moves. I love that feature as it's tricky and you really need to think about how you will get to it.

Nat09

Hi John ( @ChickenGoujohn), I agree with @Foley1362, the number of moves are pretty spot on. I like the challenge and if you give us too many moves, the game becomes to easy, then it will get boring. Maybe on those really hard levels you could add a few more moves, it would help finish the level without having to get boosters or buying extra moves. 

Levels with only 20 moves is a pretty short game, I wouldn’t mind it only once in a while, I’m at level 1536 and when we get events where we need to get a certain amount of stars to win( like the Jelly Queen event) it can be difficult, especially if you get stuck on a level for a few days.
Love the work you do, octopus levels are my favourites, keep up the great work you guys do 😊

Acv

Hi @ChickenGoujohn I am currently on level 1782 I think the number of moves we get is good.  Alot will depend on the starting board.  If I get a good starting board I can clear the level if not well I can always try again.  I think that the number of moves is good and most of the time I will get through in a max of a couple days.  It is challenging but that is why I play.  If you add too many extra moves then the challenge isn't there. 

candycrushinit

Hi John @ChickenGoujohn. Thank you for giving us time to provide feedback for you and your team 😊

I'm on 714 right now, as I am trying so hard to complete as many levels as I can. For levels with 20 moves or less, it feels like an easy challenge for me when I play on a small game board and difficult on a large or multi-panel board. I feel like I'm not going to make it with this many moves. But with the help of my friends, I can sure to succeed at some point. 

For levels with 40 moves or more, I feel like winning so easily. No matter how big or small the level is or simple or complex it looks, I can easily think positive on what I'm about to do. 

However, it may be unsatisfying for me to just win or lose every time. Not to mention the difficulty of each level; it can feel like a big turn-around when I'm playing at a constant rate for any level. 
I might find it really boring if I have to replay the same level over and over again. I don't mind using boosters 'cause I have a lot (over 150), but as long as I think they should help me finish it. Between 30-35 moves will be perfect for normal levels and 35-40 for hard and super hard levels.

I love the work you and your team had put into. It really makes it worth a lot of playing if you ask me. My favorite levels are dunk the cookie levels as they are so satisfying to play and I get to play as my favorite character, the lovable Nutcracker!
Well I hope you and your team had done an amazing job creating these levels for us. They are a lot of hard work and I absolutely must thank you for making such a great game that all of us enjoy. Have a good day and keep working hard on those new levels for us 😊👍