Feedback on levels Levels 9036-9080

9054.

Was 33 moves, clear 68 jellies and collect 4.

NOW it’s 19 moves, clear 110 jellies collect 4

i can’t keep up with the unfair platform.

Why do you ask and do nothing? Does King enjoy player’s frustration 🤔☹️

AGAIN!! Mute is not a function-please fix!!!

Just checked online.

9051 originally was 35 moves to collect 2

My 9051 is shown as 23 moves to collect 4.

Used an hour of all boosters and didn’t get close but I was asked to use or buy gold bars 😳

Come on play fair on a fair platform of amusement not ripping people off 🙏

Seriously 9051 level is a total waste of time and boosters!!

Who thinks these levels up 🤪?

I keep asking why won’t the app MUTE?????

Updates are not helping or King!!!!

Since passing 9000 level. I’ve not been able to pass any on first try with booster or without.

so many levels get close but leave me with one still to clear.

9047 I’ve been on for 6 days and getting no where but offered extra 125 moves for gold bars-that speaks volumes!!!! It’s not even a super hard level, just ordinary level.

Not happy. And I’m still stuck with the confounded music unable to turn off since latest update. My requests for help are ignored. ☹️🥲

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Day 6: Level 9068 Continued

Got 60 minutes of color bombs from F5 team, so started with color bomb, and two striped/wrapped boosters. Had pretty good board on this third try that finally cleared the cake bomb which opened things up quite a bit, but still had 39 frosting with less than 10 moves left. Had a couple of well placed striped/wrapped combos that cleared out all the frosting except 13 all grouped together at the very bottom. I decided that I would probably never do this well again, so I used my last UFO to get all but three of the frosting. Made a few moves and got another striped/wrapped combo that cleared two of the last three with one move left. Was going to use a hammer if necessary, but ended up with my last move clearing the last frosting for yet another “Super Sugar Crush” where I clear a level on my last move on my third try.

This level was ridiculously difficult and without the UFO, I don’t know how long it might have taken to finish. Needless to say, I didn’t enjoy this level much.

Level 9069 - I can’t believe it, but I finished this level on my first try. I started with two color bombs, one from my F5 timed booster and one from the ad button, and a striped/wrapped booster. The two color bombs were almost next to each other, so I used a hand switch to put them together and that cleared almost all the licorice in the bottom section. I cleared a couple of keys and the locked divider opened and released a couple of cherries and it all dropped to the lower section. A few moves later, I got the cherries to the bottom and thought this level was too easy, even with the two color bombs to start. It was only then that I realized I still needed three more cherries and they were locked! So I work on getting the keys and I finally unlock the last cherries with two moves left. I’m thinking there is no way I’m getting those cherries down in two moves, so I make my best move and get them almost down, but unbelievably right next to all three cherries are two wrapped candies right next to each other. I set that off for the last move and it dropped the last three cherries, finishing the level on my last move (AGAIN)!

I feel lucky to have finished this one on my first try, and I’m thinking without the boosters, this would have been another really difficult level.

Level 9070 - Another level that I completed on my first try. I started with two color bombs, one from my F5 timed booster and one from the ad button, and a striped/wrapped booster. The two color bombs were actually next to each other this time so I set that combo off and that cleared all the licorice locks on the board. From there on, I had an incredibly lucky board with color bombs appearing on almost every move along with several well timed color bomb/wrapped combos. The number of color bombs I got on this board was crazy, and everything just fell into place and I easily finished the level with a few moves left. It ended up being a fun level, but only because everything just fell into place perfectly. I really could not say if this level would be difficult or not based on how it all came together for me.

Level 9071 - Another crazy set of circumstances on this level that I finished on my first try in 6 moves with 19 moves left. I started with two color bombs, one from my F5 timed booster and one from the ad button, and a coconut wheel booster. Once again, the two color bombs ended up next to each other and setting that off cleared nearly everything on the board and only left a few caramel swirls left to clear to drop the one cherry. It only took five more moves to drop the cherry and finish the level. Once again, I couldn’t tell you if this would be a hard level or not, but with the right boosters in the right places at the start, it was super easy.

Level 9072 - I had what I thought was a really good board, but it then fizzled. Looks like another really hard level.

Try 1: 24 Jellies, 3 Frosting, 0 Licorice

Try 2: 28 Jellies, 10 Frosting, 0 Licorice

Try 3: Decided boosters were needed, so started with a color bomb, a striped/wrapped, and another color bomb from the ad button. The color bombs were almost next to each other, so I used a hand switch to put them adjacent and set them off which made quite a dent in the board and cleared a lot of the keys. From there, I got a fair number of special candies and combos which helped clear a lot more. What really sealed it though, was out of the blue, two color bombs ended up next to each other again. Setting those off really cleared things out and it was just a matter of careful planning and moves to finish the level with 3 moves left. I think this would have been a really hard level, but the boosters and lucky board really helped me get through it. At least the board is open enough that the player has plenty of move to choose from and can try to implement a strategy. Pretty good level overall, but still very difficult, especially without boosters.

Level 9073 - Level starts off pretty tight, but with some patience, it opens up a little. It’s still a very challenging level, and I didn’t do well on try 1. Going to use starting boosters of color bomb and striped/wrapped to see if it helps

Try 1: 14 Jellies left

Try 2: 8 Jellies left

Try 3: 7 Jellies left

Try 4: Finished the level with a hammer and one move left. The starting boosters helped open things up a bit, and some good use of special candies really helped clear a lot more, but what really sealed it was towards the end I had around 8 jellies left with about 5 moves left. I had one color bomb and was going to use it to clear around half of the 8 remaining jellies, but I saw there were 5 candies in a row on the conveyor belt that I could make into another color bomb when it next moved. I made a useless move way off to the side so as not to mess up the conveyor, and sure enough, I was able to create the second color bomb with my third to last move. Luckily, it ended up almost next to my other color bomb, so I used a hammer to get them adjacent and set that off with two moves left. That cleared all but one jelly with one move left. Since I had no moves that would get that last jelly, I used a hammer to finish it off. This was another very difficult level, but with some boosters and good planning, I was able to finish it. I’m pretty proud of how I played this level because without the clever planning at the end, I wouldn’t have gotten through it.

Level 9074 - This is more of the classic thinking players problem solving level that requires careful planning to maximize your chances of finishing. That said, this is not an easy level.

Try 1: 8 Swirls left

Try 2: 1 Swirl left

Try 3: Finished on the last move! Just as I surmised on my first try, this level required lots of planning and just a little luck. I had pretty good luck on this level, but move choice and strategy are key, and it all came together just perfectly and I was able to finish the level on my last move. Well designed and well thought out level. Just difficult enough to make it challenging, but doable with planning and strategy.

Level 9075 - This level has lots of aggravating magic mixers, tons of marmalade coated candies and licorice shells and appears super difficult. Didn’t come close on the first try. I’m not sure if it is possible to develop a strategy, but getting rid of the magic mixers seems to be the best approach.

Try 1: 25 jellies

Try 2: Finished on last move. I got a lucky board that had enough special candies to allow a decent attack on all the magic mixers and I cleared them all with 9 moves left. I used 8 moves and cleared all but two jellies and had to use a hammer and a hand switch to clear the last two. I think I was very lucky to finish this level in two tries, without a lucky board it could take many more tries than two to complete it.

Level 9076 - Super Hard level, but I started with a color bomb, a striped/wrapped, and another color bomb from the ad button. The two color bombs ended up almost next to each other so I used a hand switch to put them next to each other. Setting that off opened up the board quite a bit and brought Samantha into play. Using Samantha and the readily available color bombs allowed me to implement a good strategy for getting through the level. At the end, I needed a hammer to clear the level with one move left on my first try. Strangely enough, I tend to do much better on Super Hard and Nightmarishly Hard levels for some reason. Once again, having Samantha in play allowed for some great planning, thinking, and strategy. This was a really fun and satisfying, yet difficult level that was well designed and implemented.

Level 9077 - Luckily, I started the level with two color bombs right next to each other and setting that off opened the board up from the start. From there, it was just a matter of selecting the best moves and I finished the level on my first try with seven moves left. A fun, classic Candy Crush level that was enjoyable and satisfying.

Level 9078 - Two color bombs next to each other cleared all the licorice and dropped 4 of the six required cherries right away. Used most of the remaining moves to get the last two cherries down and finished with 8 moves left on my first try. This probably would have been a challenging level if I hadn’t gotten the two color bombs next to each other at the start. That said, the design seems pretty good in giving the player plenty of moves to choose from to plan their strategy.

Level 9079 - First two tries, I had two color bombs right next to each other which helped clear all the marmalade from the licorice, but I had a hard time getting to the sour skulls. The next two tries, I didn’t come close to clearing the licorice or the sour skulls. It appears that the sour skulls are the primary target and everything else is going to have to be collateral damage.

Try 5: 51 jellies, 4 licorice left

Try 6: 49 jellies, 5 licorice left

Try 7: Finished with 2 moves left. I got a lucky board with enough special candies to finally get to the sour skulls with about 9 moves left. After clearing the sour skulls, the board was wide open and allowed for planning moves that let me finish the level easily after that. The level looked very difficult, but with just a few special candies at the right time, the licorice could be cleared and the sour skulls could be accessed. After that, the level was completed without too much trouble.

Level 9080 - I finished this level on my first try. I thought this was a well designed level that rewards the player for making careful, planned moves. I played each move to accomplish the specific goals of the level and was able to finish with a few moves left. The board wasn’t too cramped so I always had multiple moves to choose from to implement my strategy. I enjoyed this level, it was fun and satisfying.

Summary of third new episode this week, levels 9066-9080:

Overall, really difficult but not as bad as the first episode, which was ridiculously difficult. At least I finished the three new levels before the new ones come out in about a day. I usually finish them twice as fast, so the last three episodes were much harder than usual. I really didn’t enjoy them as much as I usually do. I hope the difficulty will be rolled back a bit to what is was in the mid 8000’s. Since about 8700 or so, it seems like the levels have gotten harder and harder. It reaches a point where the fun factor gets lost in the difficulty. I hope the designers don’t lose sight of the fun factor and try to minimize the frustration factor of levels that require pure luck and are so tight that there are almost no move choices and numerous reshuffles. For some reason, the levels with Samantha end up being fun, yet challenging. If you read through my thoughts on all the levels, you should get a good idea of which level designs are enjoyable.

Thanks for the opportunity to help contribute to future level designs that will be fun, fair, challenging, and satisfying.

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Continuing with third new episode this week, levels 9066-9080

Day 5

Level 9066 - First try with no boosters, came fairly close to finishing the level. Second try, decided to start with a color bomb to try to open things up faster and it seemed to help some. Got a color bomb/wrapped combo midway through the level that really opened things up. From there is was a matter of careful planning and moves to finish the level with two moves left. I actually enjoyed this level because it allowed for plenty of choices in making moves in the beginning, and for good strategy and plan later in the level.

Level 9067 - First try, didn’t do well. This level has lots of caramel swirls and licorice and it’s really difficult to get to the protected bubblegum pops at the bottom.

Second try, started with color bomb and striped/wrapped boosters but still couldn’t pop even one bubblegum pop at the bottom. New strategy, concentrate on bubblegum pops and let the rest of the level be taken care of by collateral damage.

Third try, started with color bomb and striped/wrapped boosters but still didn’t pop any bubblegum pops and finished with 18 jellies.

Fourth try, started with color bomb, striped/wrapped, and fish boosters and another striped/wrapped booster from the ad wheel. Finally did pop a bubblegum pop but finished with 15 jellies.

Board is too tight to use starting boosters, so going without boosters at the start of the level from here on.

Try 5: 17 jellies left

Try 6: 10 jellies left

Try 7: 1 jelly left - so close!

Try 8: 17 jellies left

Try 9: 24 jellies left

Try 10: 19 jellies left

Try 11: 18 jellies left

Try 12: I got a super lucky board with multiple color bombs that would go off an cause cascades that created more colors bombs. I must have had 10 color bombs this time. Even with that, I still had 4 jellies and a bubblegum pop left with one move left. I had one color bomb left, so I made my last move expecting to lose again, but suddenly I saw the check mark saying I completed the level. This was completely unexpected and I was totally surprised.

Bottom line, I really disliked this level. Pure luck, no skill, no planning, no strategy. Just mindless playing waiting for that lucky board.

Level 9068 - Try one, started with color bomb, striped/wrapped and another striped/wrapped won on the ad wheel. Didn’t do well at all. This level appears impossible, but there must be a strategy I’m missing.

Try 1: 31 frosting, 1 licorice left

Try 2: Started with color bomb, striped/wrapped and another color bomb won on the ad wheel.

Try 2: 45 frosting, 0 licorice left

Ran out of lives and so I’m done for the day. I only got through two levels today, and they were all I could handle. Hopefully things will go better on day 6.

It is a great dedication to such a detailed post for every level. I think the King intends to get our opinion on the levels from those in the higher levels to help them how to cut down on the number of moves.

Thanks for your interest @Tzvi_Marcu.

I keep my notes app open as I play and immediately after losing a level, I make a quick note of anything interesting. After finishing each level, I’ll organize my quick notes into the summary you see here on my thoughts on each level.

If I didn’t make notes right away after each try on a level, I could never remember what happened.

I find it interesting that King wants our opinion on the latest levels, right when it seems that they increased the difficulty quite a bit.

Stay tuned for my thoughts on my the third new episode this week, assuming I can actually finish it!

I enjoy to read your detailed description of those 15 levels. I just want to understand how and when do you write it, during the time that you play or do you make videos and after that describe them. I cannot imagine that you remember all this to write it after you finish the levels.

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Here is my feedback on the second new episode this week, levels 9051-9065. I actually completed this entire episode on Day 4.

Level 9051 - Another really bad level. Almost never had a choice of two moves, board constantly reshuffled with no possible moves. It was pure luck that I got through this level on my second try. This level was not enjoyable at all until suddenly all the cherries dropped all at once on one move with only a couple of moves left. Please don’t design such tight levels that require no skill and all luck like this one.

Level 9052 - Another really hard level, at least it’s labeled as Hard. Still too many reshuffles and not enough player move choices for my liking. First try had 31 jellies left, so second try started with all three boosters (Color Bomb, Striped/Wrapped, Fish) plus an extra booster from watching an ad, four boosters total to start. I immediately used a candy hammer to line up a wrapped candy next to a color bomb for my first move which blew the board wide open in one move. Mid-level, I used a hand switch to line up a striped/wrapped combo to help open things up even more. Still ended up running out of moves with 5 jellies left, but luckily got 5 extra moves on the wheel spin. I was also lucky to have things end up where I could create a color bomb on my first extra move. My second move caused a cascade that set off the color bomb and that cleared all but two jellies and things lined up with a blue striped candy set to clear the last two jellies. Things also lined up so I could create a color bomb with my third extra move. Luckily, the color bomb I created ended up next to a blue candy so I could set off the blue striped candy with my fourth extra move and finish the level on my second try.

Takeaway from this level is that starting boosters help a lot, but you’re still gonna need a bit of luck to get through it. Too bad it takes either boosters of a lot of moves to open up the board enough to get to the point where you can start planning your move strategy.

Level 9053 - I passed this level on my first try with 5 moves left and got sugar stars. I don’t know if it was just an easy level or I just got lucky. It seemed like I didn’t have many move choices, but things just kept falling into place nicely after each move. No complaints on this level since I finished it on my first try, but it wasn’t particularly fun or satisfying either.

Level 9054 - This was a fun and satisfying level. I finished it on my first try and cleared the last jelly with my last move. Lots of planning and strategy involved in finishing this level, mostly trying to figure out how to best utilize Samantha, as well as cracking open the licorice shells to power her up for the next use. Funny how some of the most fun, yet challenging and thinking levels include having Samantha on the board? Sometimes she is critical in finishing a level and other time she is just an extraneous extra feature on the board. It’s up to the players to figure it out. Great job on this level King designers!

Level 9055 - Another hard level, and it was labeled that way. First try, I had a pretty good board, but still didn’t even come close.

Try 1: 31 Jellies, 25 Bubblegum, 0 Licorice left

Try 2: 60 Jellies, 76 Bubblegum, 1 Licorice left

Try 3: 80 Jellies, 85 Bubblegum, 12 Licorice left

Try 4 - Finished on last move. Decided I needed to use boosters to have a chance at this level, so I started with a color bomb and striped/wrapped boosters. Mid level, I used a hammer and hand switch to set up a color bomb/wrapped combo to help open things up. With only three moves left, I used another hand switch to create a color bomb that was supposed to end up next to a striped candy but it went off, clearing all but around 4 jellies. Next move created a cascade that cleared two of the jellies leaving two red candies on the two remaining jellies. Second to last move was lucky enough to be able to create a color bomb next to a red candy and used last move to clear last two jellies.

Really hard level that required boosters, planning on how and when to use boosters and some well timed luck. I would hate to see how many tries this level could take without any boosters.

Level 9056 - Another really hard level with few move options. Tried seven times and never came close to destroying the magic mixer. I find I don’t like levels with magic mixers. Unlike the levels with Samantha, magic mixers require mostly luck to destroy. If you can’t dispatch them right away, they overwhelm the board in short order.

On my eighth try I got a fairly lucky board with some color bombs and a few striped and wrapped combos that helped open up the board some. With three moves left, I used a hand switch to set up a critical striped/wrapped combo that finished the yellow candies and got the mixer down to one hit left, and also luckily left another striped/wrapped combo set up to finish off the magic mixer and finish the level with one move left. With a lot of luck, I would still be stuck on this level. Not a very enjoyable level, too much luck required.

Level 9057 - Level seems doable, but took 3 tries to get a lucky enough board to get down to 1 jelly left with one move left, so I just used a candy hammer to finish this one off an move on. This is about what a typical fairly hard Candy Crush level should be like. The one good thing is the board is open enough to give the player some choices and feel like they have some way to try to implement a plan.

Level 9058 - This one took six tries to finally get a lucky enough board to finish. The board is open enough to avoid any reshuffles, but sometimes you are stuck in situations where your moves don’t get you any closer to finishing. I got enough striped/wrapped combos on my lucky board to open the lower area enough to get the cherries out of the way and allow me to attack the lower levels with more striped candies. A well timed color bomb/ striped combo really got me close and a wrapped candy helped drop that last cherry with one move left. Once again, more luck than skill though this level did allow for some strategy once you got lucky enough to get the cherries out of the way.

Level 9059 - I got a lucky board where everything just fell into place and nearly every move made good progress towards completing the level. I had one jelly left with one move left, so I used a candy hammer to finish the level on my first try. I can see where you would need a lot of luck to clear this level as the board is pretty cramped without a lot of move options.

Level 9060 - I can’t really evaluate this level properly as I started the level with two color bombs next to each other which immediately cleared all four keys and basically unlocked all the coconut wheels needed to clear the rainbow rapids side of the board. I just needed to use all the remaining moves to clear the jelly side, though I did need a hammer at the end to ensure finishing the level on my first try. Looks like it could be pretty challenging without boosters.

Level 9061 - Pretty good level, hard but with enough options to give the player a chance to implement a strategy. It took me one try to figure out that I needed to ignore getting the keys and to focus solely on clearing the Carmel Swirls at the bottom. By working on the swirls, the keys would be taken care of by collateral damage and cascades. On my second try, I ended up with seven jellies and three swirls to clear all bunched together so I decided to deploy one of my hard won UFO’s to finish the level with two moves left. I had a pretty lucky board and I didn’t want to blow it by not finishing when I was so close. I don’t use UFO’s unless there is a compelling reason, and this situation was exactly the right time. I thought I played nearly a perfect strategy and was very close and I didn’t think I would come that close again without trying many times, given the difficulty of the level.

Level 9062 - First try with no boosters to start, I didn’t do well - 31 Swirls and 36 Frosting left. Second try I decided to start with two boosters, a color bomb and a striped/wrapped booster. I did much better this time and the combos kept coming at just the right time and just the right places to help me make a big dent in the board. I ran out of moves with 7 frosting left, but given how really difficult this level was and how lucky I was to only have 7 frosting left and a striped candy all set up to clear 3 of them on my next move, I used 10 of my remaining 15 gold bars to get an additional five moves. It actually only took me two of them to finish this level and I feel very fortunate to have completed it on my second try. I hope I can win the episode fast race and win those gold bars back. I know I’m going to need them later given how crazy difficult these last two episodes have been.

Level 9063 - Didn’t do too well my first two tries, so on third try I started with four boosters, color bomb, striped/wrapped, and fish plus three extra moves from the ad wheel. Had a good board going when mid level I got a color bomb/wrapped candy combo the really cleared things out. It just took a few more move to finish the level on my third try with 7 moves left. Another level when starting with maximum boosters and getting even one lucky break can help finish a level. This level was pretty good in that there were enough move choices to give ether player a chance to implement a strategy. No complaints on this level, overall an interesting design with good play.

Level 9064 - Almost a replay of the last level. Didn’t do too well my first two tries, so on third try I started with four boosters, color bomb, striped/wrapped, and coconut wheel plus three extra moves from the ad wheel. Had a good board going when I got two color bombs, one to charge up Samantha to clear marmalade from cherries, and another to charge Samantha again to open a licorice shell to release more cherries. Used the released color bomb from the licit charge Samantha again to clear last key to unlock last cherries. Finally used two coconut wheels to crack open last licorice shell to finish level on my third try with three moves left. I really needed the boosters to get things going, but once again, having Samantha on the board really allowed for planning and strategy to finish the level. This level was actually pretty fun.

Level 9065 - I can’t really say much about this level except it was the last level in the second of three new levels this week and I just wanted to get it done. So I started it with a color bomb and striped/wrapped boosters and a few moves in I got lucky and got a couple of color bomb/striped combos that made a pretty good dent. Then I used a hammer to set up another color bomb/striped combo to clear more. Then I got three color bombs all at once and saw that if I used one of color bombs, I could get the other two almost together, only separated by one candy. So I used a second hammer to get them next to each other and used the color bomb/color bomb combo to reduce swirls from 14 to 7. Then I realized if I used a hand switch, I could set up another color bomb/striped combo, so I did that and got it down to two swirls. I could not clear those last two swirls in my last couple of moves so I used two hammers to finish the level. So on this level I needed some good luck, 4 hammers, and a hand switch to finish it on my first try. Definitely not an easy level.

I finished the second episode, won 15 gold bars in the fast race giving me 20 to use on the last episode this week. I was able to finish five of the fifteen levels in this second episode on the first try, but had to use boosters to do it on three of the five.

It took me four days to finish the first two new episodes this week, much longer than usual. I think these are some of the hardest episodes as a group that I have seen since the levels in the 3000’s.

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Third day:

Continuing with level 9049:

Five more tries, not even close. On 12th overall try, I finally got a lucky board with lots of color bombs, striped and wrapped candies, and lots of combos of all of those and finished the level easily. This level does require the player to figure out the proper strategy of going right at the magic mixer, but unfortunately without a lucky board, no amount of skill will get you through this level.

Level 9050 - Passed this level on the first try. I didn’t do anything special as the board was pretty tight and a lot of the times I only had one possible move. I did have one lucky break when out of nowhere, I got a color bomb/wrapped candy combo that blew things wide open. It just took a few moves after that to finish the level. I’m not sure what to think about this level as I never had to develop a strategy but just followed the limited moves available and just got lucky. It was nice to finish a level on the first try, and finally finish the first of the three new episodes.

So that wraps up the first of the three new episodes this week. I only passed two of the fifteen levels on the first try. I normally would have finished all three new episodes by now, so this was much harder than usual. I hope the next episode will be easier.

I have a suggestion, when there is only one possible move, why not have Candy Crush keep playing by itself until the player has a choice of at least two moves? If the player only has one possible move, it’s not like they are giving up any control of their strategy in the game and it would save time, and might even be a little less frustrating.

@LindQ

I also had problems at easy levels and going through a hard levels (this happens to me more in Soda). I think the definitions of difficulty are not always correct.

I saw in our group players complaining on this levels (they didn't play on Win 10 in first day) not enough moves and needing of many boosters to pass levels. It is possible that the players (which you call "based on player data") do not correctly represent the average of these players higher. In my opinion the number of moves has been cut to much.

https://community.king.com/en/candy-crush-saga/discussion/comment/1501220#Comment_1501220

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Here is my detailed review of the levels continuing where I left off on Level 9039:

Took three more tries to get through this level for a total of six tries. I used three boosters to start the level (Color Bomb, striped & wrapped, and fish ) on the time I finished and I got a really lucky board with several color bomb/striped candy combos in a row and breezed through the level with seven moves remaining after 5 times of not even being close with 30 to 40 jellies remaining. Too much luck involved with this level for my liking.

Level 9040 - Nightmarishly Hard level, but I finished it on third try. On the third try I used a color bomb, striped/wrapped, and special candy booster to start the level and ended up using 10 gold bars to get 5 moves to finish it up. I needed the boosters and a semi-lucky board and a few extra moves to finish it, but all in all it’s what I would expect a Nightmarishly Hard level to be. No real complaints here.

Level 9041 - Pretty good balance between skill and luck. I needed three tries to finish this level and on that third try I needed five extra moves that were won on the wheel after running out of moves, along with a hand switch and candy hammer. About what I would expect a regular level above 9000 to be like.

Level 9042 - Pretty hard level, but good board in terms of having lots of move choices to try and implement a strategy. Having Samantha on the board opens up a lot of new possibilities. It took me three tries, but on that third try I got a bit lucky and got enough color bombs to keep powering up Samantha to help destroy the magic mixers before they did too much damage. I also won 5 extra moves on the wheel after running out of moves and needed a candy hammer to finish up. Could have been a lot worse, but lucky color bombs at the right time and an extra five move from the wheel spin helped me get through.

Level 9043 - Board is too tight to get to the sour skulls very easily. First try was terrible, with 69 jellies left. Second try I got a pretty lucky board and cleared sour skulls very quickly and had good cascades that just left me with a single and double jelly with one move left. I had a striped paint brush that I used on a candy with the double jelly and made a mistake thinking that a striped candy combo over a double jelly would clear it, you know one blast horizontal and one blast vertical. Well, it doesn’t work that way and I ended up leaving a single jelly and wasting my only striped paint brush booster. The third try I also got a lucky board and used a hammer mid level to line up a color bomb with a wrapped candy to blow open the board. I ended up needing to use a hammer to set up the finish and cleared the level with my last move. This level needs more luck than skill, but finishing in three tries was doing pretty well in my opinion. I started to enjoy this level more once I got two good boards in a row.

Level 9044 - On the first try, I thought this level was going to be really hard and it turned out it was. I did terrible and was even close removing the marmalade and frosting at the bottom of the board. On my second try, I changed strategy and concentrated on removing the marmalade and frosting at the bottom of the board and let the cascades take care of the chocolate near the top. The worked much better and I made a big hole through the blockers at the bottom. I still needed a hand switch and two hammers to finish the level with one move left. At least the board was open enough to give the player some move choices to take the strategy one way or another. Pretty good level overall, maybe just a bit too much luck involved, but not bad.

Level 9045 - It took eight tries to get by this level. I think there was way too much luck involved in getting through this one. Luckily, I got 30 minutes of unlimited lives or I would have run out on this level. I only passed it because I got a striped/wrapped combo on my last move right next to the Carmel swirls and then a cascade just blasted the last needed swirl. I’m glad to be past this one, not one of my favorites.

Level 9046 - First try was bad, 55 Jellies, 16 Bubblegum, 15 Frosting left. Way too many blockers, will need a color bomb/wrapped candy combo to make a dent in this one.

Try 2: 17 Jellies, 0 Bubblegum, 0 Frosting

Pretty good, but lucky board

Try 3: 45 Jellies, 25 Bubblegum, 24 Frosting

Try 4: 35 Jellies, 7 Bubblegum, 4 Frosting

Try 5: Finished! I got a lucky board with multiple striped/wrapped combos near the fish bobbers that unleashed swarms of fish that helped almost clear the board, except for 5 jellies that were left when I ran out of moves. Luckily, I won 5 extra moves on the wheel and only needed one of those moves to clear those last five jellies.

This level just requires a lucky board like the one I got. I’m guessing the idea for this level was to have the player not even get close and think it’s impossible and then a random lucky board happens and it all seems so easy!

Level 9047 - Wow, I actually passed this one on the first try, but only because I won five extra moves on the wheel after I ran out of moves. I needed two of those moves to finish the level. This level was pretty good in that the players move choices made a big difference in the outcome, and there were always multiple moves to choose between. I liked this level because it made you think about what each move would do and how to maximize the effects of each move. Good job on this one, and not just because I passed on my first try!

Level 9048 - Pretty difficult level, however there are lots of player choices to tweak the strategy on how to best tackle the challenge.

Try 1: 33 jellies, 4 cherries left

Try 2: Finished the level without using any boosters or extra moves! Changed my strategy to concentrate on removing the caramel swirls first using Samantha. Once again, having Samantha on the board with sufficient color bombs available gives the player many options on how to approach the level. Another fun level.

Level 9049 - This is yet another hard level. I’ve tried it six times and come pretty close four of those times. It took me one try to figure out not to focus on the bubblegum pops but go straight at the magic mixer. The bubblegum pops (and licorice shells) are taken care of by the collateral damage done by going for the magic mixer. It’s just a matter of getting a lucky enough board to get some cascades going to help push you over the finish line. Unfortunately, it hasn’t all come together for me yet on this level, but I can see that with enough tries it can happen. We’ll have to see how many more tries it’s going to take to get this one done.

That’s it for day 2 and I still have two levels to complete to finish the first new episode this week. Normally, I would have two episodes done by now, so you have definitely upped the difficulty level this week.

LindQ

Thanks for the feedback so far! The level difficulty is worked towards a target and is based on player data, so even if you find a level hard, the average of all players indicate that levels like 9039 and 9036 are medium-difficulty and are tweaked to keep that same average. However, we do all struggle with different thing, I sometimes have problems with easy levels as well, but clear hard ones on the first try!

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Continuing feedback on levels 9036-9080

Level 9037 - Finally completed this level after 7 tries and 10 gold bars for 5 extra moves finish it up.

Level 9038 - Super fun level with lots of planning of move selection to implement clearing strategy. Passed on first try with three stars. This is what a Candy Crush level should be.

Level 9039 - Really difficult level, should have been labeled “Hard”. Tried three times and didn’t even come close. Fairly wide open board, except for the two top sections that can easily become “locked up” with no possible moves. Lower section is ok, but there are too many blockers to clear easily and the black licorice squares come down a lot and gum up the board enough to get an occasional shuffle situation where there are no possible moves. There is some strategy involved, but still too much luck needed because of the sheer number of blockers and licorice squares that seem to rain down on the lower section. It will be interesting to see how many tries and/or boosters will be required to get through this one.

Done for the day having only passed three levels. I usually can finish an entire episode in a day, so this is much harder than usual.

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Here is my detailed feedback on the first two levels:

Level 9036 - Awful level. Board too tight, many reshuffles, lots of time only one move. Just pure luck on getting through this level, bad way to start an episode. Took twelve tries to get through this level. It should have been labeled “Hard” at least. I did not enjoy this level at all. Finishing this level was not at all satisfying, just a relief.

Level 9037 - Definitely a Hard level. Had some technical problems I’ve never had before. Game froze (technically would not respond to screen input, though the candies in the sour skulls were still blinking). Had to force quit and then restarted iPhone. Tried again and game froze again the same way, like it was trying to switch sour skulls but never highlighted the next one. Had to force quit again and lost the three boosters I had used to start the level plus a second life. Lost two more times, but at least it didn’t freeze on these last two tries. After these four tries, ran out of lives and had to wait 2-1/2 hours to refill lives. Not a good start, only completed one level after a whole day of playing. I’m not liking this episode at all so far.

There may be a technical issue with the sour skull switching on this level, sort of like it is trying to switch to a skull that doesn’t exist. Maybe a setup problem in the level sets a wrong number of sour skulls?

Comments

9054.

Was 33 moves, clear 68 jellies and collect 4.

NOW it’s 19 moves, clear 110 jellies collect 4

i can’t keep up with the unfair platform.

Why do you ask and do nothing? Does King enjoy player’s frustration 🤔☹️

AGAIN!! Mute is not a function-please fix!!!

Just checked online.

9051 originally was 35 moves to collect 2

My 9051 is shown as 23 moves to collect 4.

Used an hour of all boosters and didn’t get close but I was asked to use or buy gold bars 😳

Come on play fair on a fair platform of amusement not ripping people off 🙏

Seriously 9051 level is a total waste of time and boosters!!

Who thinks these levels up 🤪?

I keep asking why won’t the app MUTE?????

Updates are not helping or King!!!!

Since passing 9000 level. I’ve not been able to pass any on first try with booster or without.

so many levels get close but leave me with one still to clear.

9047 I’ve been on for 6 days and getting no where but offered extra 125 moves for gold bars-that speaks volumes!!!! It’s not even a super hard level, just ordinary level.

Not happy. And I’m still stuck with the confounded music unable to turn off since latest update. My requests for help are ignored. ☹️🥲

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Day 6: Level 9068 Continued

This level was ridiculously difficult and without the UFO, I don’t know how long it might have taken to finish. Needless to say, I didn’t enjoy this level much.

I feel lucky to have finished this one on my first try, and I’m thinking without the boosters, this would have been another really difficult level.

Level 9072 - I had what I thought was a really good board, but it then fizzled. Looks like another really hard level.

Try 1: 24 Jellies, 3 Frosting, 0 Licorice

Try 2: 28 Jellies, 10 Frosting, 0 Licorice

Try 1: 14 Jellies left

Try 2: 8 Jellies left

Try 3: 7 Jellies left

Level 9074 - This is more of the classic thinking players problem solving level that requires careful planning to maximize your chances of finishing. That said, this is not an easy level.

Try 1: 8 Swirls left

Try 2: 1 Swirl left

Try 1: 25 jellies

Try 5: 51 jellies, 4 licorice left

Try 6: 49 jellies, 5 licorice left

Summary of third new episode this week, levels 9066-9080:

Thanks for the opportunity to help contribute to future level designs that will be fun, fair, challenging, and satisfying.

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Continuing with third new episode this week, levels 9066-9080

Day 5

Level 9067 - First try, didn’t do well. This level has lots of caramel swirls and licorice and it’s really difficult to get to the protected bubblegum pops at the bottom.

Third try, started with color bomb and striped/wrapped boosters but still didn’t pop any bubblegum pops and finished with 18 jellies.

Fourth try, started with color bomb, striped/wrapped, and fish boosters and another striped/wrapped booster from the ad wheel. Finally did pop a bubblegum pop but finished with 15 jellies.

Board is too tight to use starting boosters, so going without boosters at the start of the level from here on.

Try 5: 17 jellies left

Try 6: 10 jellies left

Try 7: 1 jelly left - so close!

Try 8: 17 jellies left

Try 9: 24 jellies left

Try 10: 19 jellies left

Try 11: 18 jellies left

Bottom line, I really disliked this level. Pure luck, no skill, no planning, no strategy. Just mindless playing waiting for that lucky board.

Try 1: 31 frosting, 1 licorice left

Try 2: Started with color bomb, striped/wrapped and another color bomb won on the ad wheel.

Try 2: 45 frosting, 0 licorice left

Ran out of lives and so I’m done for the day. I only got through two levels today, and they were all I could handle. Hopefully things will go better on day 6.

Thanks for your interest @Tzvi_Marcu.

If I didn’t make notes right away after each try on a level, I could never remember what happened.

I find it interesting that King wants our opinion on the latest levels, right when it seems that they increased the difficulty quite a bit.

Stay tuned for my thoughts on my the third new episode this week, assuming I can actually finish it!

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Here is my feedback on the second new episode this week, levels 9051-9065. I actually completed this entire episode on Day 4.

Level 9055 - Another hard level, and it was labeled that way. First try, I had a pretty good board, but still didn’t even come close.

Try 1: 31 Jellies, 25 Bubblegum, 0 Licorice left

Try 2: 60 Jellies, 76 Bubblegum, 1 Licorice left

Try 3: 80 Jellies, 85 Bubblegum, 12 Licorice left

Really hard level that required boosters, planning on how and when to use boosters and some well timed luck. I would hate to see how many tries this level could take without any boosters.

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Third day:

Continuing with level 9049:

@LindQ

I also had problems at easy levels and going through a hard levels (this happens to me more in Soda). I think the definitions of difficulty are not always correct.

https://community.king.com/en/candy-crush-saga/discussion/comment/1501220#Comment_1501220

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Here is my detailed review of the levels continuing where I left off on Level 9039:

Level 9046 - First try was bad, 55 Jellies, 16 Bubblegum, 15 Frosting left. Way too many blockers, will need a color bomb/wrapped candy combo to make a dent in this one.

Try 2: 17 Jellies, 0 Bubblegum, 0 Frosting

Pretty good, but lucky board

Try 3: 45 Jellies, 25 Bubblegum, 24 Frosting

Try 4: 35 Jellies, 7 Bubblegum, 4 Frosting

Level 9048 - Pretty difficult level, however there are lots of player choices to tweak the strategy on how to best tackle the challenge.

Try 1: 33 jellies, 4 cherries left

LindQ

Hello @Crazy Cat Lad and @LindQ

Continuing feedback on levels 9036-9080

Level 9037 - Finally completed this level after 7 tries and 10 gold bars for 5 extra moves finish it up.

Level 9038 - Super fun level with lots of planning of move selection to implement clearing strategy. Passed on first try with three stars. This is what a Candy Crush level should be.

Done for the day having only passed three levels. I usually can finish an entire episode in a day, so this is much harder than usual.