Candy Crush Level 1211 Too Shall Pass

Today “the girls” at work asked what level of Candy Crush I was up to now. This is often their question because I’m THE TOP scorer of all of their friends. But, I still play because: I’m not the top of MY friends

I’m currently “stuck” at Level 1211 — which may or may not be far to you. It may be if, say, you have never played. But, I am about two worlds (or whatever they call the cluster of levels) away from one friend and four worlds away from another (I beat her regularly on Words With Friends, so I’m fine with that. For now.) “Stuck,” by the way, means I’ve been on this level for a couple weeks. Yep, weeks.

I don’t BUY anything. I often even forget to spin the wheel for the bonus… goodie? (I seriously don’t know the terms for any of this stuff: The chocolate sprinkle ball thing? The wheel one that gets rid of rows of candies? The frog? PS — why is there a frog in candy?). What I mean by this, is that each level I have beat has been earned over time. Sure, I may have used a lollipop boom (?) or switchy hand (really, NO clue) to “Sugar Crush” the end of some levels.

But what I’m saying is: I have played and played and played this game to be as far as I am. (Hmm, see a life parallel here?) It’s been years. Yep, years.

To think of all the time I wasted on Angry Birds!

At one point I had to wait for updates to the app to continue. I would probably have been even farther along if, you know, real LIFE hadn’t gotten in the way. I got married, had a kid and have put down for the game for months at a time. Then, some friend taunted me that she’s “catching up.” Well, I can’t have that.

Competition is one driving force for me playing the game.

It used to be about beating my siblings. We’ve ALWAYS been competitive, it might be genetic or just rivalry. I was relentless as a child. When I discovered “tournaments” I would not shut up about them. (To be fair, it was mainly my younger brother and sister and I playing together. So, with three players, I thought round-robin would be the best way… to be fair.) But they’ve stopped playing and I’ve long since crushed them.

Another big reason why I have played so much is while commuting and not connected to WiFi, you can still play. Kudos, King on making your app playable offline and still able to log your progress when you reconnect later.

Perhaps the main reason why I play it so often is: I don’t have to really think.

I worked for the post office for a number of years during college. I’d wake at 3AM, go punch in, work all morning and head to school after punching out. I LOVED working there. Besides the fact that it was well-paying, the work was soothingly monotonous. Tedious? Yes. But having to think all day, write papers, and learn lines for shows at night (while writing my own shows!) left my mind rather fatigued. To be able to go into work half-asleep and still manage to function well in my job was a fantastic break from all the mind jazzercise.

THAT is what works for me about Candy Crush as well. Sure, some strategy is employed, some focus, maybe reasoning. But, I can tune out the world, not think and just make colorful matches with my fingers. I use my mind plenty elsewhere.

Ultimately, it’s a game. And I know that. If I don’t beat this level today, next week, never, I will be okay. My wife will still love me. My daughter will still love me. And most of my friends and family will… want to unfriend me so they can be TOP on their list. But they won’t.

I win.