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Get more lives in Candy Crush saga

// May 17th, 2013 // No Comments » // games, gaming, Play

So many friends are playing the game Candy Crush Saga by King Games. It is one of the biggest hits at the moment. It is a simple connect 3 bejeweled type of game, that has been expertly linked to people’s social profiles for enhanced engagement.

In Candy Crush [it's very addictive], you only have a max of 5 lives at a time. These are given based on the amount of time that has passed since your last life was used up. Of course completing a very difficult level may require more than the 5 lives. Once they are up, you can wait 20 minutes, but a new life for or if you connect to Facebook, ask friends to send you lives.

Now I have about 16 lives [11 over the max] at anyone time waiting for me to use up in completing the hard levels. And I don’t spend any money on them. Here is my technique.

Tip #1:
Get in the top 3 ranks on the early levels.
While you are playing the early levels, try and get onto the top 3 high scores. This way people will see your profile more often, as well as the send a life button. Most players stay in the early levels of the game [under level 50] This will make sure you get lots of lives coming from friends because they see you there more often.

Get in the top 3 list.

Tip #2
Don’t accept all at once!
In the game you can select to accept lives. Don’t accept more than 5 at a time. The game seems to have a limit of 6 lives at a time. Don’t waste those lives. Keep those messages containing lives unread until you need them again when you run out. This way I tend to have lots of lives stored up in my messages.

Don’t accept all lives at once.

Tip #3
Out of lives? Switch devices.
If you are playing on an iPhone or iPad and you run out of lives, simply goto your computer and play the game through the browser on Facebook. For some reason the Candy Crush servers are not fast enough to remove those lives. So once all 5 are gone on the phone, bam! On the desktop [Facebook browser open] there are 5 lives again. Woohoo!!! As you can see in the pictures below, it works in the reverse as well!

No more lives on the desktop? Switch to the phone and play.

See, now there are more lives on the phone again.

I hope you enjoyed these tips. If you liked them please share them with your candy crush friends.

Bitcoin Explained in 3 minutes Video

// April 10th, 2013 // No Comments » // gaming, Technology, Video

There is a lot of buzz nowadays about bitcoin. Some people are saying it is a good investment. But I’m sure you are wondering how it works. I’ve been following bitcoin on and off for a couple of years now, and it seems it is starting to tip into the mainstream media with lots of rumors running around it. Before you get caught up in the rumors, have a look at what bitcoin is. This is a great video that explains how the system works. Many people are switching due to the distrust that is forming around defaulting and corrupt banking systems. Could bitcoin be the answer, or just a stepping stone to a new type of currency?

Microsoft Alternate Reality Game Case Study at SIME Vienna

// November 20th, 2011 // No Comments » // conferences, games, gaming, Indie, speaker, Video, Work

I was invited to SIME Vienna this year to talk about the Silver Line Society Project that we did at INDIE for Microsoft NL. Here is a recording of the talk, it is in 2 parts I’m afraid.

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SilverLineSociety an ARG for Microsoft NL

// June 15th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // games, gaming, press

Last year I developed and produced an Alternate Reality Game for Microsoft The Netherlands together with Indie and game designers Bas Haas and Jelte van der Maat. Bas and Jelte were students of mine at the HKU and without them the project would never be as engaging. The Project went on to earn a Silver Spin Award in the Gaming Category. The first Spin Award for Indie actually. Here is the Jury Report:

“To design and produce Alternative Reality Game is difficult enough. Achieving this internally at a company such as Microsoft Holland where it is “business as usual” is special. This requires guts. What we liked is that one is able to show how games push people over the limits of existing departments, as well as transferring knowledge to create new socialnetworks within the company. It is a fine example of integration of training on the job, communication and games, so worth a Silver SpinAward. ”

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