The objective of Bejeweled is to swap one gem with an adjacent gem to form a horizontal or vertical chain of three or more gems of the same color. Bonus points are given when chains of more than three identical gems are formed, but also when two chains are formed in one swap. When chains are formed, the gems disappear and gems fall from the top to fill in gaps. Sometimes chain reactions are triggered, where chains are formed by the falling gems. Cascades are awarded with bonus points. There are two variations of the game to choose from.
Normal Mode
In Normal Mode, the player fills up the progress bar on the bottom of the screen by matching gems. When the progress bar is filled up completely, the player goes to the next level. As the level progresses, more points are required to proceed to the next level. As the player levels up, they get more points by matching gems. The game ends if no possible moves remain.
The gameplay mechanics are similar to Normal Mode, but the progress bar starts half-way filled. The player has to keep the bar filled by matching gems, and they will level up by filling the progress bar. The bar will deplete faster and faster and will require more gem matches to fill up as the player levels up. If no moves are possible, the player gets a new board instead of getting a game over. The game ends if the progress bar is depleted completely.
Hints and Tricks
By clicking the purple button on the side next to Options and Quit Game, the player can get a hint. When they do, the score and progress bar depletes. The depleting score and progress bar do not repeat until the player makes another match. Although normally the player gets only three in a row for gems, sometimes they can get four or five in a row. And in rare conditions, they can get six, seven, and even eight in a row. But some versions of the engine do not register it.
Development
The game was created by PopCap Games as a web-based game called Diamond Mine, inspired by the 1994 MS-DOS game Shariki. The name Bejeweled was suggested by Microsoft, who thought the original name Diamond Mine was too similar to that of an existing game, Diamond Mines. PopCap had partnerships which allowed Microsoft Zone and other gaming sites to host Bejeweled as well. The game has been ported to other platforms, including Microsoft Windows, as Bejeweled Deluxe, and iOS devices. Astraware produced versions for PDAs on the BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm OS, and Windows Mobilesmartphone platforms. Bejeweled Deluxe was released on Xbox as a downloadable Xbox Live Arcade game. On September 12, 2006, it was released as one of the first games downloadable from the iTunes Store for the iPod. PopCap released a web app version of the game for iOS on October 11, 2007. On September 25, 2008, Bejeweled was officially released as a free addon for the fantasyMMORPGWorld of Warcraft, alongside Peggle. In addendum to the standard 'Classic' and 'Timed' modes, the addon has an exclusive 'Flight' mode, wherein the game begins when the player takes a flight from one in-game location to another, with the goal to score as high as possible before they reach their destination. The WoW addon adds achievements to the game, as well as a levelling system. On December 13, 2011, PopCap released a HTML5 version of the game, which is available on the Google Chrome Web Store for free. A HD version for iPad debuted in May 2012. In 2014 Bejeweled and Candy Crush Saga were proved to be NP-hard.
