Texas freshman Sen. Ted Cruz admits he's got a few addictions — his iPhone, Twitter, and the online video game Candy Crush Saga.
"If there were one thing my wife would throw out the window permanently it would be my iPhone," said Cruz on Thursday morning's
Politico Playbook Breakfast.
The Republican and tea party favorite admitted he's got an "excessive addiction" to his phone, largely reading Twitter.
"Every nasty, left-wing tweet wishing misery on me, I read," he said. But he admitted he uses his phone for video games as well, and has "reached level 217 on Candy Crush."
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Cruz isn't the only one addicted to the colorful video game, which works in a progression of puzzles in which players mix and match cartoon candies in combinations of three or more to gain points and advance through levels, and can be played on Facebook or most mobile devices.
Last week, King Digital Entertainment, the Irish company behind the app, filed its initial public offering on the New York Stock exchange, revealing how much money is coming in from Candy Crush thanks to Cruz another avid players.
The game isn't just for single players — it's also popular on social media, with people asking each other for passes so they can increase levels. King's IPO shows the game draws 93 million daily active users, according to
DailyFinance.com, with the average person each playing at least a dozen games daily.
Candy Crush Saga is King's only true success. It also offers a similar game, Pet Rescue Saga, but that one attracts only 15 million daily gamers.
King generates money from the game not only through advertising, but selling virtual items to enhance gameplay or help people reach the game's higher levels. As a result, King has already bypassed another large gamer, Zynga, which offered Farmville and peaked at $1.15 billion before tumbling to $716 million in 2013.
Cruz also admitted to another smaller addiction during the breakfast — Netflix political drama "House of Cards," which stars Kevin Spacey as a corrupt, criminal House Minority Whip, reports The Wall Street Journal.
He says he's already watched the show's entire second season, but calls it "mind candy" that strays from reality.
"I don’t know about you, but I really try to refrain from having people murdered in politics," he said.
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