What type of game is Candy Crush Saga's core gameplay based on?

Candy Crush Saga's core gameplay is based on match-three puzzle mechanics.

Players swap adjacent candies on a grid to form horizontal or vertical groups of at least three matching colors. Those candies disappear, pieces above them fall into the gaps, and new candies enter from the top. The resulting chain reactions are called cascades and can produce extra points or advantageous board changes.

The game builds on the established tile-matching tradition associated with titles such as Bejeweled, but Candy Crush Saga adds level goals and special candies. Matching four or more pieces can create power-ups that clear rows, columns, or larger sections of the board.

It is not an endless runner, tower-defense game, or hidden-object game. Those genres use fundamentally different play patterns: continuous movement, defensive placement, or visual searching. Candy Crush Saga instead combines match-three swaps with fixed moves, lives, episodes, and changing objectives such as clearing jelly or bringing ingredients to the bottom.