My Candy Love is a free-to-play browser, iOS, Android game that revolves around an interesting character, known as Candy. What’s interesting about this game is not just the fact that over two million people have played it, but that it captures every newbie that touches it. The game is an episode-after-episode of thrilling romance.

You’ll play as the main character, Candy, and navigate her new school’s emotional and social terrain. Candy is a lively, extroverted, and unsurprising nosey person. Sometimes, you’re going to need some patience to deal with her. Her character isn’t very malleable, but that takes little or nothing away from the game’s experience.

What’s endearing about My Candy Love is the high school setting it takes. The game transports you to your high school and the many dramas that pervaded it. Yet, the twist and turn of this high school plot are unmatchable.

The game begins with Candy joining a new school right in the middle of the term. You’re welcome with a set of gawking eyes and have to wade through the confrontations by a group of girls notorious for their bullying. Alongside this, you have schoolwork to attend to, with the workload more demanding due to your starting late.

Each episode presents you with a fresh dose of drama that keeps your adrenaline flowing. There are a beach episode and one where you can’t find your way in the woods. There’s another with a concert to plan for fundraising, and yes, a mean ex-girlfriend to deal with.

The most remarkable element of this game, probably, is the romance. Candy meets lots of attractive characters who seem very to like her very much. When you expect the flames to go up, Candy always finds a way to write it off.

Your first love interests are Nathaniel, the nice student union president, and Castiel, the typical school’s bad guy. There’s also a spectacle-wearing nerd to complete the triangle. As the game continues, you meet many other characters who want to set the fire on.

After creating your account, you’ll be able to customize your avatar. While you can change hairstyles, eye, and hair color, your skin color remains the same. I really would have loved the option of a wide range of skin colors to reflect diversity.

There’s a Candy’s Room where you can always go to access all unlocked features, as well as, change your character’s physical appearance. You can also choose an astrological sign for your character.

Candy Love runs on Action Points (AP), which you get from completing game tasks. The fix is that you also need APs to play every step of the game and move to the next episode. For example, game instruction could be “Find Nathaniel.” Taking a step into a classroom to look for him requires 2 APs, and he might not even be there. So you can imagine how many APs you’ll spend before completing that objective.

However, the game rewards you with 10 APs every day you sign in. Still, the game can be annoyingly slow if you depend solely on that. You’ll have to wait for a couple of days to gather points, sometimes, before taking the next game action. My way around that is collecting enough APs for a chapter by logging in every day and playing the in-built game Flower Power.

You also get the option of purchasing in-game points. This purchase is charged from your cellphone bill. Considering the fact that you need a minimum of 100 APs to complete an episode, this can be relatively expensive.

While I don’t particularly enjoy employing tutorials in my games, I had to break that rule for My Candy Love. On my first play, I made lots of stupid mistakes because I ignored tutorials. I gave lots of wrong responses, ruined conversations, and got on the wrong side of other characters. So some tutorials will be of tremendous help.

I found the game progressively interesting as I played through. Higher episodes come with more exciting characters. Also, these characters are so mixed you’d never feel like you’re playing in a box. Some real issues, like abuse, are also dealt with as the game progresses.

The Main Characters

·      Nathaniel

Nathaniel is the student council president who doesn’t joke with his academics one bit. Throughout the game, he’s at loggerheads with Castiel, who revels his vicious role. As Candy, I enjoyed conversing with him, even though he’s not the most charming character.

·      Castiel

The bad-boy guitarist with a huge role across several episodes in the game. He likes Candy and isn’t afraid to push things. Castiel is a temperamental troublemaker, with lots of issues that could be really stressful. Underneath his frustrating hostility is a pleasantness that you might fall in love with.

·      Lysander

Lysander is a very calm and quiet character – more like a mysterious person. He says very little, but blessed with loads of singing, songwriting, and poetry talent. When you become really close to him, he might begin to show some bouts of jealousy when you’re with another guy. This part of him was specifically endearing to me.

·      Ken/Kentin

Ken is your typical nerd who’s crazily in love with Candy. He follows her from her old school, but not enough to get my affinity. In later episodes, Ken changes his name to Kentin, stops using his spectacle lenses, grows some muscle, and some really lovely haircut. While he initially starts as a macho-Kentin, he becomes nicer in later episodes.

My Candy Love does have some issues, especially with inclusivity, but I love the game nonetheless. It’s not just a game built for teenagers but also for anyone who enjoys the unpredictable twists and turns of human interaction. Overall, My Candy Love is an excellent game, with a beautiful ending (that’s some spoiler).

I would completely recommend the game for anyone that needs some thrill in their gaming experience.