Candy 2048 Challenge

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in the Endless Puzzle Fun Collection bundle, along with Yum Yum Line. It is also included in the Super Puzzle Pack bundle, along with Jigsaw Fun: Piece It Together, Gems of Magic: Lost Family, Match Three: Pirates! Heir to Davy Jones, and Yum Yum Line.)

Candy 2048 Challenge is a family-friendly Puzzle game released in 2020 on Nintendo Switch. This is yet another take on the “2048” style of sliding block Puzzle where players slide the same numbers into each other to combine them, trying to reach the highest numbers possible.

The presentation here is decent if you can look past the mobile-style menus. The game uses colorful 2D visuals with a candy aesthetic, and these are backed by a catchy guitar theme. It’s nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.

As far as the gameplay goes, on the good side of things, the gameplay works, and players have the option of standard gamepad controls or touchscreen controls, both of which work well. And… that’s the end of the good things.

On the bad side of things, the gameplay here is slow and clunky, with moves taking far too long to make. What’s worse, this game comes with virtually zero options, not letting you change the play field size, scoring rules, or even the visualization for the board and pieces. This is absolutely as bare-bones as 2048 games get. Yet for such a lackluster take on an established formula, this game is priced at an insulting $8. And yes, this game regularly goes on sale for $2, because of course it does. But even at $2 this seems overpriced for what’s on offer, when you can get a million and one games exactly like this on your smartphone for free.

In the end, despite having a good presentation, Candy 2048 is an overpriced bare-bones take on this type of game that’s difficult to recommend. There are multiple other 2048 games on Nintendo Switch more deserving of your time and money, or you could just get a free version on your smartphone. Either way, do not get this.

tl;dr – Candy 2048 Challenge is a Puzzle game that takes the well-worn 2048 puzzle, adds a candy theme, and… not much else. This is an absurdly bare-bones take on this well-established game formula, and absurdly overpriced too. Do not get this.

Grade: D

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