Monsters Love Candy

Monsters Love Candy is a match-three puzzle game based around locating and removing matches from a board. The game is played on a board filled with pieces of candy of different colours. To score points the player has to draw a pattern of three identical pieces or more, either horizontal, vertical or diagonal. A match is not limited to a single direction, but can be long-winded in different directions across the entire board as long as the identical pieces are always connected in one of the three directions. There is no time limit, but longer combinations yield more points than smaller ones in succession. The pieces of candy that disappear in a match are replaced by new ones that appear from the top. There is an additional real-time mechanic to build combos. Whenever a match is created, there is a small time window to quickly draw a new pattern. If this is done quickly enough, multiple matches can be created in a single go that all disappear at once, for even more points. When the player is too slow, the drawn matches are executed and removed.

In the game the player is a research assistant of a professor. The goal is to document and adopt different monsters in different environments with 35 monsters in each world and categories such as common, rare, legendary or mythical. In a level the monster is shown on the left side of the board. Each match fills a meter on the left side and when a certain amount has been reached, the monster is fed enough candy and the level is won. By creating a match of at least twenty pieces (in one go or through consecutive matches executed quickly in succession), a super candy is created for a large meter boost. When enough candy is collected the monster also evolves to a new form. When the level is completed the monster is stored in a scrapbook and it can optionally be adopted. Next to the basic currency of coins, the premium currency of purple gems is required to have additional storage slots. Experience is gained to level up.

Next to a different look each monster has a specific set of boosters. These can appear next to the pieces of candy on the board. When a booster is included in a match with any type, a specific power-up is used. There are boosters that make all the remaining candy of that type float to the top of the board, double the multiplier or make the surrounding candy explode. Available boosters are shown on the right side of the board. By creating matches of pieces with the colour next to it, it is introduced to the board when the meter is full. Before starting a new level you choose a monster to have it level up just like the player character. Each new player level provides currency rewards and there are daily rewards as well. Additional currency can be bought as in-app purchases.

By signing into the game with a Microsoft account it is possible to customize the monsters' looks, visit new worlds, earn achievements and access the leaderboards, and challenge other players. There is a waiting time / stamina system to the game when visiting multiple locations in successions. Players either have to wait, spend purple gems or watch a video ad to access the next location. Up to three stars can be earned per level based on the total score.