Bejeweled is a puzzle game by PopCap Games, first developed for the browser in 2001. Two sequels to this game have been released, Bejeweled 2, by PopCap Games in 2004, and Bejeweled Twist, also by PopCap Games, in 2008. More than 25 million copies of Bejeweled have been sold, and the game has been downloaded more than 150 million times.

History

The game was initially created by PopCap Games as a web-based Flash game called Diamond Mine. It was reportedly successful for PopCap—a company formed in 2000. PopCap created partnerships with established Internet gaming sites such as Microsoft Zone to host Bejeweled as well. The name Bejeweled was suggested by Microsoft, who thought that the original name Diamond Mine was too similar to that of an existing game, Diamond Mines.

The game has also been ported to other platforms, including Microsoft Windows, where it was called Bejeweled Deluxe. Astraware produced versions for PDAs on the Palm OS, Windows Mobile, Smartphone and Palm platforms. They also released Bejeweled Deluxe on the 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 Apple iPod.Fact: date=February 2009

PopCap Games announced a version of Bejeweled for the iPhone. It is not a standalone game but rather a web application playable over the Safari browser. A native application for the iPhone is also now available.

Recently, skill games like Bejeweled have been featured in online competitions for prizes.

Its influence has crossed the virtual divide, as a scratchcard based on the game has been issued by Lotterywest.

On October 9, 2007, PopCap Games announced Bejeweled for the Playstation 2 and Xbox 360 platforms in a compilation with other puzzler games.

On September 20, 2008, a World of Warcraft fansite known as WoW Insider revealed that PopCap Games would be releasing a free version of Bejeweled as an add-on for World of Warcraft's interface for download the following week.

On October 27, 2008, PopCap released the official third installment in the Bejeweled series: Bejeweled Twist. It is similar to the classic design, except now instead of swapping two gems, the player rotates clusters of four gems clockwise to make matches. The gems also will not move back if they do not initially match up, unlike in previous games.

On December 20, 2008, Popcap released Bejeweled Blitz, a plugin version on the Facebook social networking site that allows players to compete with other Facebook users in a timed, one minute game.

Game play

The objective of this game is to swap one gem with an adjacent gem to form a horizontal or vertical chain of three or more gems. Bonus points are given when more than three identical gems are formed or forms two lines of identical gems in one swap. Gems disappear when chains are formed and gems fall from the top to fill in gaps. Sometimes chain reactions, called cascades, 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.