For some, Candy Town is a dream come true. It’s designed to capitalize on the almost universal desire to gorge cupcakes for hours on end, yet while gamers miss out on the actual taste of sweet treats, they might also miss the substance that comes from a wonderfully designed iPhone game.
That’s not to say that Candy Town is boring or seriously lacking. It’s actually a little like a moving Bejeweled knockoff built especially for the casual gamer. Candy Town isn’t nearly as addictive as Bejeweled though, and the graphics and animation are about average in the iOS department.
For those still interested, the object of Candy Town is to swipe similarly colored, adjacent cupcakes off the screen in groups of three or more. Snatch three cupcakes in a row and you’ll gain a few points, but grab more in a grouping and the point counts increase.
Grabbing cupcakes is as easy as sliding over the adjacent ones with a quick swipe. The game reacts to your touch by drawing a sparkly gold line in your path. Cupcakes disappear at your bidding, but if you’re not quick enough they also disappear in natural conveyor belt fashion.
The main difference between Bejeweled style games and Candy Town is the fact that the screen only holds about 12 cupcakes at a time. Every column of cupcake moves as a slightly different pace before it disappears off the screen forever, so this Chillingo game requires both speed and strategy.
Every level also has a timer and goal so players have to complete tasks like “Make sure to grab the cupcake with the candles,” yet something doesn’t quite stick in Candy Town.
Passing levels sometimes feels a little arbitrary, and the zero through three star performance review at the end of each level feels somewhat empty. The kids might really enjoy Candy Town before their uncoordinated fingers can figure out Bejeweled, but until then this knockoff is probably only suited for the most casual of gamers.
Bottom Line: Candy Town is a moving Bejeweled knockoff with a fun premise, but mostly lacking in substance.
