Candy Crush is getting another feather in its cap. Rather than offering another twist on match-three puzzling, Candy Crush Solitaire will bring the franchise’s sickly sweet aesthetic to the card game classic. It will be the first Candy Crush game to release after Microsoft’s acquisition of developer King.
Candy Crush Solitaire bases itself on tripeaks solitaire, in which players must clear three “peaks” of cards. The game will feature familiar power-ups from Candy Crush, including jelly fish, the lollipop hammer, the color bomb, and the UFO. They will offer similar, but not exactly the same, powers as their match-three counterparts. Much like other Candy Crush games, the basic solitaire gameplay will be altered and made more challenging as players progress.
Candy Crush Solitaire will launch worldwide on February 6. Players can pre-register now on the app store of their choice and they’ll receive some in-game rewards: 5,000 Coins, four undos, two fish cards, and three color bomb cards.
Back in 2022, when Microsoft’s now-completed acquisition of Activision Blizzard (which included King in its holdings) was still uncertain, Xbox boss Phil Spencer claimed that the purchase was more motivated by King, and by extension the mobile market, than console games like Call of Duty. Since Microsoft’s acquisition, Xbox has emphasized its mobile and Smart TV offerings with the “This is an Xbox” campaign.