Moves

Moves are a fundamental rule in playing Candy Crush Saga levels. A move consists of matching at least three same-coloured candy in a row. A successful match will bring down the total number of remaining moves by one. Moves can also be made by combining a colour bomb with a candy or another special candy, or a coconut wheel with a regular or special candy. (And formerly using the free switch booster or moving the candy frog to another tile.)

Any remaining moves left over from a level will result in Sugar Crush. On moves levels, Sugar Crush happens when the player runs out of moves, and when the player reached the target score when he/she is playing in his/her current level.

On mobile, the move counter starts blinking as a warning when five moves are remaining. This applies even to levels that begin with five or fewer moves. Candy bombs blink when their countdown reaches two moves remaining.

The moves can range from just 7 (level 2039) to a generous 45 move level (level 9441), and all the way to a whopping 90 moves (Level 15 beta). When you run out of moves and haven't reached the objective(s), you fail the level. There is little or no connection between move count and difficulty; generous (high) move counts do not necessarily equate to low difficulty, and low move counts do not necessarily equate to high difficulty.

As of now, no levels have more than 45 moves, which was once a common sight. Furthermore, levels after 10000 almost always have move counts between 20 and 35, occasionally having 15 to 19 or 36 to 40 moves.

Description

The in-game description of moves is: "Every successful switch costs a move. Game ends when all are used." (It is shown when the mouse pointer hovers above the moves section).

Gaining moves

There are currently few ways of gaining additional moves in levels:

• An extra moves booster can be activated during a game at any time. If you run out of moves before completing a level, the game offers you a chance to buy an extra 5 moves and up to 50 moves after the eighth and further purchases. You may also have a chance of winning extra moves by watching ads or spinning a wheel.
• Having booster passes applied, due to Candy Necklace, watching ads.
• Returning after a long absence. For absences of n days (bonus capped at 14), every new attempt will start at n extra moves, counting down until this in-game assistance runs out after playing n rounds.
• Formerly, a friend can send +3 extra moves if you have been stuck on a level for at least 2 days. This is activated before the level starts. Now they give +3 moves when they complete episode race, 5 levels in a day, or passed a difficult level.
• Collecting extra moves candies, a type of candy that is the counterpart of the discontinued extra time candies. Each extra moves candy gave three extra moves. They were officially introduced in level 3779 but was later discontinued.

Trivia

• Level 2039 and 3863 currently have the least moves out of any level excluding past versions, with 7 moves, after level 3387 was redesigned.

  

  Candy Crush Saga Level 15 (BETA-LEVEL)

  If past and beta versions are included, they include level 700, Dreamworld level 440 and pre-buffed level 696, at 75, and level 15, at an unbelievable 90. The record was Level 9896, which at one time had an inconceivable 92 moves!
  • As of 26 September 2022, this level was hit with the mass redesign. It is now a completely different order level with only 25 moves.
• As of 26 September 2022, there are no levels with 45 or more moves, once a common sight during the first few years since this game's release.

History

Initially, levels often had between 20 to 50 moves. Levels with more than 50 moves were always uncommon. Levels also tend to have moves that are in multiples of five.

Very few levels have more than 40 moves. Level 500, which was famous at first release, had 65 moves, and soon we saw two levels with 75 moves. They were all reduced in the number of moves, along with a reduction in color. However, a gradual trend resulted in having levels with fewer moves, plus buffs which reduced the number of moves on recently released levels to increase difficulty. Many levels in the 2000s to 5000s have move counts under 20, which is otherwise uncommon, and as of now, they still aren't nerfed. A mass redesign resulted in many levels only having their move counts adjusted; we now saw episodes with over 50 moves but with uncommon numbers.

After the demise of Flash, and a series of nerfs, especially color nerfs, many levels had their move counts cut in return. The most recent mass redesign always featured levels whose move count lie within a narrow range of 20 to 30 moves. The delineation between levels affected by the mass redesign can clearly be seen based on the distribution of move counts in surrounding levels.

Bonus moves when the player's away

Chart and trend of all moves and time limit by episode and level as of 26 September 2022 (when regular icing was replaced with empty tiles). Red points are for selective redesigns at that date, and override blue points. Notice the outlier at Level 666.

Chart and trend of all moves limit by episode and level as of 26 September 2022.

Chart and trend of all moves limit by episode and level as of 26 September 2022.

Chart and trend of all moves limit by episode and level as of 26 September 2022.

Chart and trend of all moves limit by episode and level as of 26 September 2022.

Chart and trend of all moves and time limit by episode and level as of the release of Episode 245.