Candy Bomb

Not to be confused with Colour Bomb or Cake Bomb.

“	Remove Candy Bombs before they hit 0!	”
—Splash text

The candy bomb (also known as time bomb or simply bomb) is an element in Candy Crush Saga. It is one of the most difficult obstacles in the game. It appears as a coloured bomb with a number inside it. The number varies depending on the level. It can be as high as 99 or as low as one. For every move used, the number on the bomb will be reduced by one, as long as the bomb is not gotten rid of, until it reaches zero. When a candy bomb’s timer reaches zero, it will explode the whole board and the player will fail the level.

The candy bomb is first introduced for the 8th episode, Salty Canyon. It first appears in level 96. Like liquorice swirls, they can be created out of dispensers; this happens starting from the 19th episode, Holiday Hut (Level 261). They can be dispensed from the same dispensers as other elements in later episodes.

Appearances

First appearance	Latest appearance
Level 96	Level 5672

For the list of levels that contain this blocker, see here.

Properties

Candy bombs have move counts ranging from a very nice 99 moves in level 3851, to a generous 50 moves in level 470 and 5000, 46 moves in Level 1438, 40 moves in level 755 and 934 or 35 moves in levels 180, 258, 407, 502, 747, 923, pre-nerfed 934, and 977 or even a mere 4 in some later levels, a mere 3 in level 1504 and the old version of level 275, a mere 2 in the old version of level 1349 and level 1982, and only 1 in level 1341 (buffed version of old level 1349).

Also, some mystery candies spawning bombs can have a long or short move count. If the level has a preset counter for other bombs, they use the same counter. If the preset value does not exist, the counter may be random.

Candy bombs can be destroyed by a normal candy match, or through any special candy's effects reaching the candy bomb. Each bomb is worth 3,000 (web) / 3,060 (mobile) points when destroyed. Candies will take the place of the square once the candy bomb is destroyed.

Bombs can be combined with other blockers to form particularly deadly combinations. Bombs under liquorice locks, in marmalade, or inside sugar chests will explode while still trapped in their confining blocker, if they are not freed and destroyed before the counter reaches zero.

The candy bomb's timer can be increased by 5 with the help of a booster, called the Bomb Cooler, which adds 5 to every bombs' timer on the board. It is unlocked when the player reaches level 97.

As of the Candy Keep update, bombs will be shuffled when the board shuffles due to lacking possible moves.

Event Timing

Flash version

Before, when a candy bomb reached 0, it exploded before any conveyor belts had a chance to move, even if doing so would defuse the bomb. By the time of release of Wacky Waterhole, it has been corrected.
Likewise, if a UFO is activated when a candy bomb is at 1, the bomb timer will be decremented to 0 while the UFO lifts off, so that the player loses the game, even though the UFO's action might have destroyed the bomb.
In your last move of any level, bombs on the board do not tick, even if they have counter down to 1.
If some bombs are supposed to spawn every few moves, but fail to do so for any reason, once they are able to spawn, they will all come out.

HTML5 version

Bombs may only explode after conveyor belts move and all cascades end.
Similarly, if there are other objects in process (Jelly Fish, Coconut Wheel, UFO and so on), the bomb does not explode before all processes end.
Bombs still tick in your last move of any level.
Bombs failed to spawn every few moves are not reserved at all.

Polls

This poll is about how difficult clearing candy bombs is to you. Please take some time to answer it.

Strategy

It is vital to remove the bombs before their timers reach or else the bombs will explode and cause the failure of a level.

However, removing candy bombs can be fairly difficult at times and can impact the difficulty of a level directly. Sometimes they can be isolated from the main part of the board, forcing the player to remove them using special candies. Depending on the bombs' position, it may be necessary to plan a few steps ahead to successfully remove them. On an open board, making matches in the middle of the board can decrease the chances of bombs spawning on the edges. Sometimes, bombs can be easy to remove also.

While candy bombs are threatening, it is also important to note that bombs provide benefits of boosting the score (3,000 points awarded for every bomb removed). Using a colour bomb on a candy bomb provides massive points, sometimes up to a hundred thousands points. This holds true for moves, timed levels and even jelly, ingredient and candy order levels, where getting enough points is the key to passing the level.

Take note that when it comes to focusing on getting points, using a lollipop hammer to remove it on certain versions is not recommended as it will give you 0 points. Only use it if the timer is 1 and you can't remove it.

On timed levels, you can still lose after reaching the target score if a bomb explodes. Once the target score has been reached, you can stop and let the time run out if you have no possible moves to remove a bomb and making a move would set off a bomb.

Also, watch the pattern of adding new bombs into the field. Some bombs are added for every few turns, some bombs are added if there are less than a stage-specific counts of bombs on the field (For example, in some levels the Candy Cannons will always try to keep multiple Candy Bombs on the field) and no more bombs will be added until one of the existing bombs is cleared (For example, in level 565, the dispensers do not release more bombs the instant they are two bombs on the field and will only dispense bombs if one of the bombs is cleared. When that happens, they will only dispense up to a maximum of two bombs on the field).

On mobile version, you can still win if you have a bomb at 0 and the number of moves (or time) at 0, unless you did not score enough points on that level.

Candy Bomb behind Liquorice Locks

( + )

This setup is seen sometimes in levels, starting from level 107. When it does make an appearance, it is very deadly. It is one of the most notorious setups in the game. The old version of level 440 for example used to be a very difficult level due to the heavy use of this setup.

The reason this is so deadly is because a liquorice lock can be tricky to remove, but when there is a bomb behind it, it becomes even harder, as no matter how you destroy the locked candy - using a colour bomb to destroy the colour of the candy bomb behind it, striped candies, or a simple match, only the liquorice lock will be destroyed, and the bomb will stay. The setup usually takes two hits to clear, which can mean that the bomb is not destroyed in time. Exceptions to the use of the colour bomb + striped candy combination of the same colour as the bomb, or the detonation of a wrapped candy nearby so that both explosions affect the locked bomb.

Some levels only have one use of this setup, and some feature it very heavily, but any level with this setup will likely bring an early end to an attempt or two at least if not removed.

The best strategy to remove it is to activate a wrapped candy around it to remove the lock and the bomb.

Or match the color bomb with striped candy, but, this is very hard.

Level 482 clear — Level 482 on mobile. Notice that, even with leftmost orange bomb with counter at 0, Sugar Crush is still being activated since the order has been completed.

Trivia

Although candy bombs can help give the player a very high score, it is still a big threat if they don't remove them on time.
It is among the most hated elements in the game as it cause an instant level failure if a player does not remove it in time, and there is currently no way to increase the timer without using boosters.
It is currently one of the only three methods of the game (aside from the quit button) to cause an instant level failure without using up all moves. The other methods are running short of candies such as no more moves can be made even after a shuffle and being unable to complete a candy order due to either destroying all magic mixers on the board or destroying all chocolate before either of those elements has spawned enough blockers to complete the candy order.
The Candy Bomb's texture seems to be soda in an elliptical sphere.
On mobile, Candy Bombs used to actually explode in a bubblegum mess before the failure popup.
The candy bombs are known as "Pepper Candy" according to the keywords in the level config files.
If there are multiple candy bombs with timer at zero, they will all explode:
- On web, they will remove all other candies and leave empty locks, marmalade and chests, which is strange since they can destroy the contents without opening the chests.
- On mobile, only one of them will send a shockwave, nothing else will be changed.
On web version, the number on a candy bomb will be in smaller font when it has 2 digits, and become bigger number with a single digit. On mobile however, the numbers will always be of same size.
Just as liquorice swirl can be generated from candy cannons, the same could be said for candy bombs. However, the need to get rid of as many bombs before they explode may be overwhelming, especially if the initial number on the bomb is of a low value, like 8 or below.
Before, when there is a shuffle, the candy bombs stay in place and won't count down. As of the Candy Keep update, Candy Bombs will be shuffled during a shuffle on web version. This happened a bit later on mobile.
The bomb will not cause level failure on mobile version when you meet the objective (regarding timed levels) right when the bomb reads 0.
If a colour bomb destroys the same colour as some of the candy bombs onscreen, the player can receive massive points, which can be very helpful. This technique can earn a player millions of points on levels like 274 and 374, and is essential for levels 880 and past versions of level 1304.*Candy Bombs eaten by Sweet Teeth or smashed by a Lollipop Hammer will not yield any points.
A candy bomb's audio when destroyed is the same as the liquorice swirl's and multilayered icing's audio when destroyed. (mobile only)
- It does not make any sound on web version. Instead, the fuse animates.
These are one of the main reasons the past version of earlier levels were the hardest levels in Candy Crush Saga.
In the past, if on the turn which you complete a level the bomb counts down to zero, it would not explode on the board, meaning you will still have finished the level without losing a life but the blast will prevent any Sugar Crush from occurring. Then after some redesigning, the player will would fail the level with Tiffi crying "Oh No!" and possibly a Game Over (on jelly levels only such as levels 275 and 515). However, the original behaviour has been restored.
The old version of level 275 once held the lowest starting Candy Bomb count, at 3 moves. The current version increased it to 8, meaning that 5 move candy bombs were the deadliest.*However, with the release of Candied Cliffs, level 1341 not only features the candy bombs with the fewest moves in the game, but it features the candy bombs with the lowest possible moves. Any candy bomb spawned will have only one (!) move before detonation!
Level 370 holds the most amount of candy bombs, with 77 of them. They do not spawn however.
Considering the bomb spawning rate, level 1132 has the highest rate, of able to cover most of the board (about 70 of 75 spaces). This makes this level "with most candy bombs to be removed in a single game".*A similar level, 1394, spawns nothing but bombs.
Levels 174, 274, 374, 474, and 574 are all levels to have a candy bombs. Level 74, however, is not a level to have candy bombs, because the first level to have bombs is level 96. Also, level 674 and 774 do not have bombs.
Level 717 introduces candy bombs behind marmalade.
Level 813 introduces candy bombs just sugar chests.
On web version before Snack Shack was released, candy bombs spawned from mystery candies had a default timer of 5 if the level layout didn't have bombs. After the release, it is changed to a random value between 5 and 10.
- On mobile version, the counter remains 5. There was only a short period when the bomb counter was also raised.
On mobile v1.63-1.64, jelly fish seem to favour candy bombs over jellies. This seems to have been corrected with release of v1.65.
A red candy bomb is used to blow the roof of Benny (originally, Mr. Raccoon)'s prison cell in the 56th episode, Candy Calaboose. Said bomb explodes after 5 seconds, instead of 5 moves as in game.
- This is also the only bomb which counts down by time elapsed, aka a time bomb. All other bombs do not tick at all after certain time, only moves.
There is a glitch when you unlock candy bomb in liquorice lock or marmalade (this is not affected if special candies are activated):
- On web: Candy bomb will countdown.
- On mobile: Candy bomb will not countdown if freed directly with your move. They still tick when freed by cascades.
Since candy bombs were introduced, they have always had a fixed value (number of moves before detonation) in levels, whether they spawned normally, from candy cannons or magic mixers or whether they appeared on the board naturally or in blockers. There may be a future level where candy bombs (both on the board/in blockers at the start and ones that spawn later) will have different values based on where they are on the board at the start or may even have a completely random value.
Candy bombs and liquorice swirls are the only two movable blockers that can be spawned by the magic mixer. In the case of the candy bomb, it depends on the initial timer of newly spawned bombs in the level, or at five moves if it haven't been set.
On mobile, if a bomb explodes and produces a shockwave, it will make the sound of a cake bomb when all of its slices are removed.
On the config files, if you set the number of turns of the candy bomb (in a level), the candy bomb will have a default timer value of 5. This means that 0-move candy bombs are impossible.
Candy bombs are required as part of candy orders, starting from Level 3044. They can be required along with other orders in the same level, starting from level 3062. If the lucky candy booster is used to generate lucky candies, then candy bombs with the same timer as the default timer will be revealed from them. When candy bombs are required in levels where they don't spawn (such as level 3216), the timer seems to depend on the level. In said level, candy bombs which come from lucky candies will have a timer of 12 moves, though this may be different in later levels, such as Level 3408, where they have 15 moves.
This is the first blocker order that is exclusive to HTML5 version. It's chronologically the last blocker order, until magic mixers are required as part of the order in level 3544.
This is unofficially the first element to appear with a fixed colour that doesn't spawn. Examples include red candy bombs in level 1837 (which is four-coloured) and yellow candy bombs in level 1871 (which is five-coloured). However, these appearances are unofficial due to redesigning. Since level 3437 officially introduces elements with non-spawning colours, candy bombs with non-spawning colours officially appear later on.
This is the only blocker which can be any one of the six candy colours.
If the player fail a level due to a bomb exploding, the failure reason will show as "You did not remove the bomb in time!" on web. However, in mobile, failing a level because of bombs would show the reason as "You did not (clear all the jelly/bring down all ingredients/finish all the orders)", unless on Moves and Timed levels which shows you failed the level because of not removing the bomb in time.
Candy bombs have the tile map code 018.
Candy bombs have the order number "20".

Notable Levels

Level 96 - First official appearance
Level 107 - First level with locked candy bombs
Level 261 - Officially the first level with candy bomb cannons.
Level 717 - Officially the first level with candy bombs in marmalade.
Level 813 - Officially the first level with candy bombs in sugar chests.
Level 1020 - First three-coloured level with candy bombs.
Level 1052 - First level where candy bombs have a fixed colour.
Level 1328 - First level where candy bombs can be spawned by magic mixers.
Level 1341 - First level with one-move candy bombs.
Level 2595 - First two-coloured level with candy bombs.
Level 3044 - First level where candy bombs are required for the order.
Level 3216 - First level where candy bombs are required but don't spawn on the board and the first level where they can come out of lucky candies.
Level 3769 - First level where candy bombs have a non-spawning colour.
Level 3851 - First level where candy bombs have the highest possible timer (99 moves).
Level 4603 - First level with candy bombs in crystals.