Candy Box! is an incremental online text-based role-playing game that runs in web browser. It was developed by a 19-year-old French student using the pseudonym "aniwey" and released in April 2013. Candy Box! uses ASCII art for the visuals.

Candy Box!
Developer(s)aniwey
SeriesCandy Box!
Platform(s)Browser
Release
  • WW: April 2013
Genre(s)Incremental, role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

A sequel, Candy Box 2 was released on October 24, 2013.

Gameplay

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Candy Box! starts with only a save button and a candy counter.

The game revolves around candies, which players begin to receive, at a rate of one per second; however this number may increase with further gameplay. Gameplay appears very sparse initially, but options appear as the player performs actions.[1] For example, candy can be eaten or used to purchase items.[2] Players can eventually undertake quests and kill monsters in order to gain candy. By performing quests, the player obtains items which can be accessed in their inventory.

Development

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Candy Box! was developed over a period of two months by independent developer "aniwey",[1] a 19-year-old student from Caen, France. It was released in April 2013.

Reception

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Kotaku noted that "Candy Box!'s curious combination of ASCII 'graphics', role-playing elements and resource management has caught on with hundreds of thousands."[3] According to Mashable, the "charming ASCII art style belies a very deep game that can quickly get addictive".[4] PC Gamer editor Shaun Prescott found the game particularly addictive, describing it as "Cow Clicker as RPG."[2] Justin Davis of IGN stated that, together with A Dark Room and Cookie Clicker, Candy Box! has become one of the most well-known incremental games.[5] Rock, Paper, Shotgun named Candy Box! number 21 of The 50 Best Free Games on PC in 2016.[6] During the 17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Candy Box! for "Casual Game of the Year".[7]

Legacy

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A sequel, titled Candy Box 2, was released on October 24, 2013.[8] The source code of Candy Box 2, written in TypeScript, was released under the GPLv3.[9]

It received broad public reception[10][11][12][13] and was recommended in a PC World review in October 2013 with the words "Play this right now".[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Candy Box Browser Game Features Lots of Delicious Candies". Geekosystem. 3 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b Prescott, Shaun (2013-05-02). "Candies is an ASCII browser game about questing and candy". PC Gamer.
  3. ^ Good, Owen (2013-05-03). "Candy Box: A Game That's Simple, Sweet, and Strangely Compelling". Kotaku.
  4. ^ Stark, Chelsea (2013-05-03). "Questing Meets Candy in This Odd ASCII Browser Game". Mashable.
  5. ^ Davis, Justin (2013-10-10). "Inside Cookie Clicker and The Idle Game Movement". IGN.
  6. ^ the-50-best-free-games-on-pc on Rock, Paper, Shotgun (2016)
  7. ^ "2014 Awards Category Details Casual Game of the Year". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  8. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (2013-10-25). "Surreal ASCII-based RPG sequel Candy Box 2 is out now". Eurogamer.
  9. ^ source code Archived 2016-03-01 at the Wayback Machine on candybox2.net
  10. ^ candy-box-2-and-beauty-smart-stupid-game
  11. ^ Surreal ASCII-based RPG sequel Candy Box 2 is out now - Will occupy a tab in your browser for ages. by Jeffrey Matulef on eurogamer.net (25/10/2013)
  12. ^ Browser-based clicker Candy Box 2 launches tomorrow by Megan Farokhmanesh on Polygon.com (Oct 23, 2013)
  13. ^ Ye New Sweet Shoppe: Candy Box 2 Is Out Now by Graham Smith on Rock, Paper, Shotgun (October 24th, 2013)
  14. ^ Play This Right Now: Candy Box 2 Archived 2016-09-29 at the Wayback Machine by Nate Ralph on Pcworld.com (Oct 24, 2013)
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