By Staff Reporter (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Sep 08, 2013 08:45 PM EDT

With over 5 million simultaneous players, Candy Crush Saga has become the number one game on Facebook, estimating an equivalent of more than 100,000 years in gameplay hours and more than 1 trillion crushed candies since the launch of the obsessive game in 2012.

Thirty years after the Russian engineer Alexei Leonidovich Pazhitnov created Tetris, the popularity of the blocks was matched by his own inspiration series, but with a more pleasing presentation that makes it more addictive for users that are looking to play the 425 game levels.

The addiction, in many cases recognized by the users themselves who have taken as a joke their obsession to achieve one more level or to get lives and candies, has forced experts to conduct an analysis of the players' behavior, raising questions about Candy Crush addiction affecting users' neurological activity.

Pablo Lopez, psychologist of the Anxiety and Stress Clinic of Congnitive Neurology Institute, and psychology career's coordinator at the Institute of Neurosciences of Favaloro University in Argentina, was quoted by El Nuevo Día saying that Candy Crush is a type of game that presents rewards in a short term causing a bigger impact on the user's feeling of pleasure. The expert added that people who have some dysfunction in decision making tend to make choices that generate short-term results and avoid unnecessary risks, and also receive instant gratification of a reward or prize.

The study published by the source is enriched with the observations of Laura Jurkowski a psychologist who specializes in treating patients with internet addiction, and Reconectarse Center founder. She said Candy Crush has achieved success among users for its social component.

"You have to ask for lives to friends and acquaintances, which it proposes to connect with others. At the same time it proposes a challenge to achieve and surpass others. Also it's a game of easy access, because they often receive an invitation from their own Facebook or cellphone contacts (...) on the other hand it's a very easy game that allows people to be distracted preventing them to connect with issues that are going on. They start to play and stop thinking about concerns or problems they have" said the specialist.

El Nuevo Dia offers a list created by analysts which measures if someone is or not addicted to Candy Crush, besides the adverse consequences that the game obsession can cause to the user:

  • Investing more than 4 hours per day in a videogame
  • Neglecting to other major life activities
  • Aim to not play or play less, and being unable to do it
  • Getting nervous, irritable or anxious if unable to play
  • Lie to yourself or others about the amount of time that you spend playing
  • Disobey the amount of time established by the game
  • Social withdrawal from family and friends
  • Sleep disturbance
  • Eating disorder
  • Health problems from inactivity or posture
  • Academic or occupational difficulties
  • Unable to stop playing despite the drawbacks that the game is causing

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Candy Crush Fun Facts

The saga has registered more than 10 million downloads at the end of 2012, of which 69 percent are women.

The most registered name is "Maria" with 300,000 registers, and "Woneda" is the user name with only one entry.

Candy Crush has reached the most remote places on earth, and is the Antartic where there are only two Candy Crush players.

It was in January 2013 when Candy Crush was placed as the most popular Facebook game worldwide, starting the rumors of its possible entry into the New York Stock Exchange because its success.