Candy Crush

What it is

Candy Crush Saga is free to install. You get a small number of lives. When they run out, you wait, or you pay to keep going. Boosters and gold bars are the same idea: the level is possible without them, and easier if you buy them.

What it costs: as much as someone will tap through, because there is no finish line on the shop. What it does not have to cost: anything, if the card is not there and they can stand waiting for lives. There is almost no stranger chat. The risk is the money.

What to look out for

• Gold bars, boosters, or “just this once” continues on a bank statement.
• A life timer that makes them ask for money to keep playing.
• A card, PayPal, or store account that approves the purchase with a fingerprint.

Ways to stay safe

These steps are for Candy Crush. The house rules still apply on every app.

• Do not put your card details on their device. Not in the App Store, Google Play, the game, or PayPal. If you choose to pay, type the card in yourself for that purchase, then remove it.
• They can play with the free lives. Waiting is allowed. Paying to skip the wait is your decision, not a button on their own.
• Turn off in-app purchases in the phone’s settings.
• Look at the store receipt email. These games email you. A surprise receipt is the moment to take the card off.

In the news

Published reports you can read yourself. A headline is the proof, not a set of instructions, and this page does not repeat graphic detail.

• Games that sell random prizes are getting higher age ratings BBC Newsround · 2026 PEGI told the BBC that paid loot boxes in games children play will usually be rated 16 or 18.
• Top-selling mobile games breaking rules on loot boxes BBC News · 2024 A BBC check of the top phone games. Candy Crush sells paid lives and boosters in that same kind of shop.

A way to start the conversation

You can say: "The game is free. The extra lives are not. When you run out, you wait. My card is not on this phone, so the shop cannot say yes for you."

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