Games Like Candy Crush: Candy Match 3 Games to Play Online
Updated
Games like Candy Crush are candy match 3 puzzles: you swap two neighboring candies to line up three or more, set off cascades and special candies, and clear each level's goal before your moves run out. Candy Crush Saga is a match 3 game released by King in 2012. Below are original candy match 3 games by independent studios, from close copies of the formula to boards with a twist.
How Candy Crush Saga plays
Wikipedia's article on Candy Crush Saga describes the core of it:
- You swap two adjacent candies to make a row or column of at least three of the same color. The matched candies disappear, the ones above fall, and new candies drop in from the top.
- A falling candy can make a new match on its own. These chain reactions are called cascades, and they score more points.
- A match of four or more creates a special candy that, when matched, clears a row, a column or another part of the board.
- Levels come in sequence, each with its own goal, such as clearing jelly from tiles or bringing ingredients to the bottom in a fixed number of moves. Pass a level and you get stars based on your score; fail and you lose a life.
Here is where the games below share those features:
| Candy Crush feature | Games that have it |
|---|---|
| Swap neighbors to match three | Candy Match Pop, Sweet Candy Match 3 Game, Treat Tumble, Cookie Blast |
| Special candies from bigger matches | Candy Match Pop (line blasts, bombs, rainbow candies) |
| Level goals and move limits | Candy Match Pop, Candy Frenzy 2021, Hexa Candy Match 3 |
| Timed levels | Candy Match Pop, Candy Frenzy 2021 |
| Stars per level | Candy Match Pop, Candy Burst Popcorn |
| A long run of levels | Sweet Beasts, Jelly Garden Game, Treat Tumble, Candy Frenzy 2021 |
Closest to Candy Crush
- Candy Match Pop is the nearest match. It has 80 levels across four chapters. Swap neighboring candies to match three or more, set off cascades, and make line blasts, bombs and rainbow candies. Levels ask for a score or a collection, add obstacles, keys and special candies to protect, and come with either a move limit or a timer. Click two neighboring candies or drag one; on a phone, tap or swipe. Progress is saved in your browser.
- Candy Frenzy 2021 has more than 100 levels with different objectives, in a time mode, a move mode and more. Make matches of three or more and create candy blasts.
- Treat Tumble swaps gummy bears, chocolate bites and jelly cubes across 100+ levels, with power-ups and daily rewards. Its worlds include candy kingdoms, soda swamps and cookie cliffs.
- Sweet Candy Match 3 Game is the formula in its plain form: swap candies, build combos, clear objectives, beat obstacles and use boosters across dozens of stages, all with the mouse.
Candy boards with a twist
- Sweet Beasts gives your matches a purpose: the candies you match feed hungry monsters. Travel through gumdrop forests, marshmallow mountains and jelly lagoons, collect new creatures with their own candy powers, and deal with sticky obstacles over hundreds of levels.
- Jelly Garden Game has you pop jelly beans, match to break obstacles and use special powers through hundreds of levels. Play with a click or a tap.
- Hexa Candy Match 3 drops the swap. The candies are hexagons, and you rotate clusters of them to form lines of one color before your moves run out. Move limits get tighter as the levels go on.
- Candy Burst Popcorn mixes candies and popcorn. Match three or more, make sweet boosters, and aim for 3 stars on every puzzle.
- Cookie Blast is classic swipe-to-match with cookies: line up three or more of the same to move on to the next level.
- CandyCurrent moves the board under the sea, with cakes and candies to match three in a line.
How to clear candy levels
Every board above rewards the same habits. The full explanation, with cascades and special pieces worked through, is in match 3 tips.
- Read the goal before the first move. A score target, a collection and an obstacle level each want different moves.
- Match low on the board. Every candy that falls can make a new match, and Candy Crush scores those cascades higher.
- Make fours and fives instead of threes. In Candy Match Pop a bigger match is how you get line blasts, bombs and rainbow candies.
- Save boosters for the end, when one well-placed booster can finish the goal in your last few moves.
- In timed levels, take the first good match you see. Candy Match Pop and Candy Frenzy 2021 both have levels against the clock.
- In Hexa Candy Match 3, look at the whole cluster before you rotate: one turn moves every candy in it.
Games like Candy Crush FAQ
Are there games like Candy Crush without lives?
In Candy Crush Saga a failed level costs a life, and when your lives run out you wait for them to refill. The descriptions of the games above do not mention a lives system, so check the first few levels of each. The site asks for neither money nor personal data.
Is Candy Crush a match 3 game?
Yes. It is a tile-matching game of the match 3 kind, where three or more of the same piece in a row disappear. More boards of every theme are in the match 3 games collection.
Can I play candy match 3 games on a phone?
Yes. Candy Match Pop plays with a tap or a swipe, Cookie Blast with a swipe, and Jelly Garden Game with a tap. The site works in the browser of a phone, a tablet and a computer.
Are these games free?
Yes. They play free in the browser, with no install and no registration.
For shooting candies and bubbles instead of swapping them, see bubble shooter tips, and more boards of every kind are in puzzle games.
