Azurephile gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
Azurephile gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
Recommendation and features

  • Recommended +1

  • Simalar to Tetris, Dr. Mario, and Candy Crush

  • Different game modes
What is Bejeweled?
If you've never played Bejeweled before, it's a simple puzzle game of matching at least three gems together on the board to remove them, while new gems will fall from the top of the screen. It is similar to Tetris, Dr. Mario, and Candy Crush.

Game modes: There are four basic game modes including Classic, Zen (formerly known as Endless), Lightning (formerly known as Blitz), and Quest. It also contains four "secret" game modes called Poker, Diamond Mine, Ice Storm, and Butterflies.

Classic mode is simply the game as I described it above; match gems and obtain a score until you reach a "game over" by no more moves being available. Badges can be won in Classic mode by reaching a certain score, such as 500,000 points.

In Zen mode, you do the same thing, except that it's impossible to get a "game over" and no more moves. This game mode was known as "Endless" in Bejeweled 2, but has been improved by being designed to help players relax with calm music and such.

In Lightning mode, you are in a race against the clock to get as many matches as possible. Certain gems will appear, which add more time to the clock. Badges can be earned by obtaining a certain number of multipliers.

In Quest mode, you have to obtain pieces of an artifact by completing certain challenges (or mini-games) in all game modes.

The four "secret" modes are unlocked by obtaining certain achievements in the different main game modes. For instance, Butterflies mode is unlocked after achieving level five in Zen mode. That said, in Butterflies mode, some of the gems turn into butterflies at the bottom of the game board. Swapping, and therefore clearing, gems will make the butterflies move up one level. If a butterfly gem reaches the very top, it will be grabbed by a spider and the player will be given a "game over" notice.

Poker mode is unlocked by achieving level five in Classic mode. The player will be given five cards, which are empty until the player clears at least three gems. When the player does this, one of the cards will turn into the kind of gem that the player cleared. So, clearing three purple gems will give you a card with a purple gem on it. The player will then have to try to create more similar cards to create a poker hand. The lowest poker hand that can be made is called "Spectrum," which can be obtained by having at least five individual gem cards. The highest poker hand that can be made is a "Flush," just like in poker where all the gem cards are the same. The player can receive a wild card by matching gems and creating a hypercube, which is the gem created by matching five gems together. Skulls also appear on the scoreboard with the scores of the different kinds of poker hands that can be made. This means that if the player creates a certain poker hand, then the game will basically flip a coin-like item which will either tell the player "Safe" or "Game Over." A bar above the scoreboard will be filled when the player creates a poker hand. When this bar fills up, a skull will disappear. The better the poker hand created, the more the bar will fill up.

Diamond Mine mode requires the completion of four of the mini-games in Quest mode. I found this mode enjoyable as it reminded me of Minecraft. The player will see a line and some dirt that can only be removed by matching gems that touch. Some of the dirt can only be removed by special gems, like hypercubes. There are also artifacts that the player can dig up as well. The player will be given a certain amount of time to remove the dirt above the line. If the player succeeds, the dirt will rise, giving the player more time and more dirt to clear away. If the player fails, or runs out of time, the game will be over.

Ice Storm is, like Lightning mode, one of the more difficult game modes. Ice will rise in columns and can only be shattered by matching gems vertically. However, there is a bar to the left that will fill up with water whenever a gem match is created. When this bar gets full, steam will push down the ice, giving the player more time to create vertical matches in order to remove the ice columns before they reach the top. If any of the columns reach the top and fill up, the game will be over. One of the more difficult badges to complete in this mode requires the player to make a combination of 15 vertical matches, so players must be very quick (and lucky) in order to obtain this badge.

Bejeweled 3 is available for some gaming consoles and the PC. Some of the badges are definitely a challenge to complete, but all are obtainable. My recommendation for completing all of the badges is to keep trying and to not give up. I was unable to obtain some of the harder badges without spending a few days trying to complete the necessary challenges, but I finally obtained them all and am left with a great feeling of accomplishment. I now feel like I've mastered the game and can calm down and take it easy. 😄