Back problems, bank problems, boyfriend problems: the Daily Mail reports that people everywhere–but especially women–are falling prey to the highly addictive mobile game Candy Crush Saga, and it’s causing them a host of personal troubles.
The game, which still sits stubbornly at number-one in the Apple app store, asks users to match sets of colorful candies into groups of three or more in order to clear the board. It’s become so popular that the game’s creator, King, makes about $650,000 a day from users spending money on premium features like unlocking new levels. Though the Mail says women ages 25 to 55 are the game’s “most loyal” demographic, New Zoo reports that about 40 percent of the game’s users are men, so they’re playing it, too.
“I call it ‘crack candy’ because I imagine giving up is like trying to break a crack habit,” one woman, who apparently believes playing a phone game a lot is the same as crippling drug addiction, told the Mail. “I hadn’t heard of it until I saw that many friends – all intelligent, creative women – were playing it on Facebook.”
Whatever enterprising therapist is the first to open a Candy Crush addiction treatment center is going to make bank.