Level 65

For the mobile players, see this level here.

Level 65 is the fifteenth and last level in Minty Meadow (Episode 5) and the 34th jelly level. To pass this level, you must clear 27 single and 38 double jelly squares and score at least 120,000 points in 37 moves or fewer. When you complete the level, Sugar Crush is activated.

Difficulty

 * Originally, this was the last level of Candy Crush Saga. Originally, it was an excruciatingly difficult and the known bad-boy level. This level, at one time, was probably more notorious than level 147 ever was. Many people actually deemed the level impossible and gave up here. When people spoke of hard levels, they only spoke of this level. However, this level has gone through many nerfs, and although it has retained some of its former difficulty in removing some of the corner or top jellies, it is no harder than a slightly-on-the-hard-side level, and no longer stands out like it used to. This level, however, may still take a few tries, but it has been diluted to a fraction of its original difficulty.
 * Chocolate is hard to remove.
 * The jellies in the popped out spaces are hard to remove.
 * However, 5 colours ease the creation of special candies.
 * The jellies are worth 103,000 points. Hence, an additional 17,000 points is required to earn one star.

Strategy

 * Clear the chocolate as quickly as possible. If it begins to take over, you will spend too many moves trying to clear it. Remember that chocolate only generates when the previous move didn't clear any chocolate. Aim for clearing chocolate in every move.
 * Concentrate on one side at a time. This makes it easier to plan ahead.
 * Always look for striped candies and colour bombs as they are crucial for passing this level. Line up the horizontal striped candies with the corner candies, so that it can help clear jelly there.
 * If there are no combos available, look for vertical matches near the bottom of the board. This increases the chances of cascading matches.

Difficulty

 * The presence of five colours makes it easy to create special candies and cascades.
 * The jellies are worth 103,000 points. Hence, an additional 117,000 points for two stars and an additional 207,000 points for three stars have to be earned through matching of candies.
 * The limited numbers and positions of jellies make it hard to sustain huge point cascades. However, the presence of five colours makes it less critical.
 * The liquorice locks are hard to clear and will reduce the number of moves left for sugar crush.
 * The chocolate will spread and reduce available board space if not cleared quickly. However, the presence of five colours makes it easy to clear them.
 * The player earns more points for combining a colour bomb with a colour that cover several single jellies than the one on mobile devices. However, this point is less critical for mobile devices due to the mechanics on mobile being the same as the one in Facebook which allows huge point cascades to be sustained and the ease of creating special candies and cascades.
 * 37 moves are limited in earning a huge amount of points due to sugar crush and the limiting of the number of special candies created via regular matches. However, this point is less critical due to the ease of creating huge cascades with only five candy colours and an open board.

Trivia

 * This is the first level which the level number is referenced within the level itself, as there are 65 spaces and jellies.
 * This level was considered as one of the hardest levels in the game until a nerf in late 2012 / early 2013.
 * This level is showcased in slot 12 of Gamespot's list of "The 12 Most Frustrating Video Game Challenges Ever". The site's conseus reads, "Candy is supposed to be fun. Candy is supposed to be a treat. But Level 65 of Candy Crush Saga is routinely described by players as quite the opposite to that".
 * This design re-appears in Candy Crush Soda level 270.