Lately, Candy Crush Saga-makers King.com have been busy blocking trademark applications and going after people with the words “Candy” and even “Saga” in their game names. While they’re doing that — technically, they say, simply to protect their brand from copycats — the game-making denizens of the internet have been having a little fun at King’s expense by launching The CandyJam, a game jam aimed at making as many games with words like “Candy” and “Saga” in their titles as possible.
The CandyJam is open to anyone, and judging by the #candyjam hashtag on Twitter, a bunch of games are already underway. I haven’t been able to find a centralised database of playable games (though I’m sure there’ll be one as time goes on), so for now, an image search of the hashtag gives a pretty good idea of what kinds of things are cooking.
Most of the images below aren’t games yet, and some may never be, but all offer an enjoyable glimpse into digital worlds filled with candy, kings and sagas. I’ve also put some links to playable games at the bottom of the post.
Pretty solid-looking unnamed shooter/platformer from Pat Guarino.
“Gumboy and the Saga of Candyland” assets by Gerrit Halfmann.
More candies and chocolate art by Gerrit Halfmann.
“Candy Tiem” by Folmer Kelly.
Gumdrop art by RogueNoodle.
Fruit protagonist art by Michelle Juett Silva.
“Candy Carp HD” by sokurah, download it here.
Excellent bedroom by Barnaque.
“Candy Intelligence Agency” concept by Leke Dobruna.
Insuline and candy art by Peter Hann.
CandyJam comic by pilli-adventure.com.
Candy King concept by thia9uera/Ed Lago.
Assets for anyone to use, made by Uber Entertainment’s Chandana Ekanayake.
“Candies, Please” concept by Zies. (Ha!)
And my personal favourite…
…a real-life game from Shandiin Woodward called “Candy Cat Rush.” The rules: “Stack all your candy on the cat before it wakes up.” I might play this one later.
There’s a lot more coming in on the #CandyJamhashtag. While most of those games aren’t playable (save Candy Carp HD, linked above) there are a few that are. Among them: Candy Game tycoon, which casts you as a worker at “Queen.com” making copies of other people’s games and Candy Clicker Saga, which has you click a swirling piece of candy and keeps a global tally on how many clicks the candy has gotten. There’s also Candy Break King, which is a brick and ball game based on (you guessed it!) candy, and CandyCandyCandy, which we linked to in the initial post.
Mmmm… candy.
Comments
3 responses to “Here Are The Best Games Sticking It To Candy Crush So Far”
This has been a lot of fun to be a part of (I made Candy Break King), and there’s lots of candy art being made available now by generous people. The jam deadline is 3rd February, so join in!
It’s a serious issue, and CandyJam has raised the profile of trademark trolling and related IP douchebaggery. When single, common words like ‘candy’ can get trademark protection, and simple, common concepts like the directional arrow to point to your next objection can also receive patent protection (Thanks Sega and Crazy Taxi) it’s a threat to the vibrancy of the gaming market. King.com could easily get enough protection by trademarking ‘Candy Crush Saga’, ‘Candy Crush’ and relying on copyright law for blatant copying and passing off cases. Registering ‘candy’ was unnecessary, and the US and UK patent offices were so stupid to allow them to be registered. The word ‘saga’ has also been applied for by King, and although they haven’t got it (yet) they are objecting the the makers of ‘The Banner Saga’ from registering ‘The Banner Saga’. All from a company built on taking existing game play mechanics and polishing them, rather than innovating.
Support the rights of game makers everywhere to use candy as part of a game name, by making a candy game, or simply by playing the games that have been made. The best thing for game developers is to know that people are playing and enjoying their creations.
Next up, King copyrights the English language.
penny arcade comic perfectly captures this