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Candy puzzles, reviewed on the parts you can actually check

See the four reviews

Written by Mia Campbell in Canberra · store data checked August 2026 · no sponsorship, no affiliate links

Four reviews

Free to download, all four, with optional in-app purchases. Age ratings come from the Australian App Store listing and differ more than you would expect for four games that look alike.

Candy Riddles app icon

Candy Riddles

A conventional swap board with an unusually generous move budget in the early chapters, which makes it a good place to learn the genre without the shop appearing over your shoulder. Pieces are drawn large and the goal strip sits at the top where you can see it.

The difficulty change around the first hundred stages is abrupt rather than gradual, and that is where the boosters start being offered.

Rated 4+
Candy Charming app icon

Candy Charming

Busier than the rest, with a lot of on-screen decoration around a fairly standard grid. Where it earns its place is variety: goal types rotate quickly, so a run of ten stages feels like ten different problems rather than one problem ten times.

Expect more animation between moves than the others on this page, and a settings menu worth visiting before you start.

Rated 4+
Candy Valley app icon

Candy Valley

A story-led board with characters and a village that fills in as you progress. The puzzle itself is solid and unremarkable; the reason to install it is the pacing, which mixes short stages with occasional set pieces that take real planning.

Worth noting that the Australian App Store lists this one at 17+, which is unusual for a candy puzzle and worth a look at the listing yourself before installing it on a shared phone.

Rated 17+
Sugar Smash: Book of Life app icon

Sugar Smash: Book of Life

The most distinctive art direction of the four by a wide margin, built around the visual world of the film it is licensed from. The board underneath is a clean swap-and-clear design, and the theme genuinely helps readability — the pieces are shapes first and colours second.

The best of this group to look at, and the one that will please anybody tired of pastel gradients.

Rated 4+

Terms, taxes and fees are shown at the next step on the store page.

What "3,000 levels" on a store page really means · Why your phone gets hot playing a puzzle · Choosing a stand for phone and tablet play

How these reviews are produced

Each game is installed fresh from the Australian store listing on a phone used for everyday things, and played in short sessions across a fortnight. No purchases, no promotional codes, no contact with publishers before publishing.

What is recorded and what is not

Recorded: goal readability, stage length, where progress first stalls, what the game offers at that moment, and store facts on the day they were checked. Not recorded: frame rates or latency figures, because measuring those properly needs equipment this site does not have.

Picking one, in six conditions

Australian store listings as at August 2026. All four are free with optional in-app purchases; the age ratings differ and are noted where they matter.

  1. If you have never played one of these — Candy Riddles. The early move budget is generous enough to learn on, and the shop stays out of the way.
  2. If you want a different problem every few stages — Candy Charming. Goal types rotate fastest here, at the cost of the busiest screen.
  3. If you want a story to pull you along — Candy Valley. Note the 17+ rating on the Australian App Store before installing it on a shared phone.
  4. If the pastel gradients have worn thin — Sugar Smash: Book of Life, which has the only distinctive art direction of the four.
  5. If the phone is handed to a child — any of the three rated 4+, with purchase confirmation switched on first. The rating covers content, not spending.
  6. If you only have two minutes at a time — Candy Riddles or Sugar Smash; both have the shortest stages of the group.

Frequent questions

Does "analytics" mean you collect data about me?

No, and it is a fair question. The name refers to analysing games, not visitors. This site runs no analytics software at all — see the Cookie Policy for the full list of what is stored, which is one consent value.

Why does one of these games carry a 17+ rating?

Ratings are assigned through the platforms' own questionnaires and are influenced by things like simulated gambling mechanics, unrestricted links or social features. We report the rating as published rather than guessing at the reason.

Are any of these paid placements?

No. Nothing here is sponsored and no link carries an affiliate parameter. The desk stand is the only thing sold on the site.

Do you accept review requests from developers?

You can send one, and it will be treated exactly like any other suggestion: added to a list, played if it fits the genre, written about honestly or not at all.

Is the stand made by you?

It is sourced, checked and posted by one person in Canberra. It is a private sale, not a business, and there is no checkout on this site.

Posted from Canberra

Aluminium desk stand for phone and tablet

from $22.00 AUD

A folding anodised aluminium stand with a hinge stiff enough that tapping the screen does not push it backwards. It holds a phone or a tablet up to about 12 inches, folds flat to roughly the size of a wallet, and has silicone pads on both contact surfaces.

Material
Anodised aluminium, silicone pads
Fits
Phones and tablets up to 12 inches, with or without a case
Angle
Adjustable between roughly 25 and 60 degrees
Dispatch
Sent from Canberra within three business days of payment

Sold privately by Mia Campbell. No payment is taken on this website — the form starts an email exchange with the total, postage to your address and payment details.

Contact

Publisher
Mia Campbell, private individual
Address
1 Moore Street, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
Email
[email protected]
Phone
+61 2 6247 3000