Focus: APS Tuning, Retention Optimization, End of Content Management

Role: Level Designer

Case Study: Balancing Difficulty in Candy Crush to Improve Retention and Monetization in candy crush Saga

Context

In Candy Crush, player progression is tied to a mix of Easy, Medium, and Hard levels. APS (Attempts Per Success) targets are set per difficulty tier:

APS Target Difficulty

5-1 Easy

15 - 6 Medium

38 - 15 Hard

Recently, player churn increased both for End of Content players and mid-progression players. Feedback indicated that some levels felt unfair, with certain hard levels requiring close to 38 attempts to win — pushing players toward booster purchases and creating a “paywall” perception.

Problem

High APS Hard Levels were creating frustration, especially when consecutive.
Perceived Unfairness: Players felt they couldn’t win without boosters.
Churn Increase: Even non-End of Content players were leaving earlier in the journey.
Monetization vs. Retention Conflict: Short-term revenue spikes risked long-term player loss.

Analysis

Using game data and player feedback:

Drop-off Points aligned with clusters of high APS levels.
APS spikes above 30 strongly correlated with session abandonment.
Consecutive hard levels reduced motivation even for engaged players.
RNG perceived as unfavorable discouraged retries.

Proposed Solutions

APS Smoothing
- Avoid placing multiple Hard levels back-to-back.
Reduce extreme APS spikes (keep most Hard levels in the 15–28 range)
Fair RNG Windows
- Ensure at least one winnable board in first 3–5 attempts for hard levels.
Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA)
- After 25+ failed attempts, introduce more favorable board states or free boosters.
Engagement Offsets
- Tie Hard level completion to special rewards/events.
Place Easy/Medium levels after hard streaks to restore player morale.

Expected Impact

Retention: Increased Day 7 and Day 30 retention through fairer progression.
Monetization: Maintain booster sales via motivation, not frustration.
Player Sentiment: Shift from “forced to pay” to “boosters make it easier, but I can still win without them"

📌 Key Insight: Difficulty should drive excitement, not exhaustion. The APS curve must balance challenge with a sense of fairness to sustain both retention and monetization.