King’s Candy Crush Solitaire, a clever blend of their popular match-three gameplay and TriPeaks Solitaire, has surpassed one million downloads. This achievement is even more noteworthy as it’s the fastest Tripeaks Solitaire puzzler to reach this milestone in over a decade.
While a million downloads might not seem staggering compared to other King titles, it’s significant within the context of the mobile gaming landscape. Solitaire and its variations have always been popular, but on mobile, they’ve often been eclipsed by flashier, simpler games. Even King, a dominant force in casual puzzle games, has faced challenges maintaining its market share. The success of Candy Crush Solitaire suggests that combining familiar elements from their established franchise with a classic puzzler like TriPeaks was a winning strategy.
Expanding Reach
Candy Crush Solitaire’s success is also partly attributed to its availability on alternative app stores, a result of King’s partnership with Flexion. This wider distribution likely contributed significantly to its rapid growth. The recent announcement of a similar partnership between Flexion and EA further highlights the potential of these alternative app stores.
What does this mean for players? We might see more Candy Crush spin-offs in the future, and it reinforces the growing importance of alternative app stores for publishers seeking to expand their reach and download numbers. Whether this translates to tangible benefits for players remains to be seen.
Interested in learning more about the creation of Candy Crush Solitaire? Read our interview with executive producer Marta Cortinas for insights into King’s latest release.