Bejeweled 3

Sid Meier's Civilization series is often mentioned as the epitome of "one more turn" video games. PopCap Games deserves mention as makers of "one more play" or "one more try" video games. PopCap's Bejeweled, Plants vs Zombies, and Peggle series are very addicting. They are easy to play but challenging to master. Because they contain so many goals, challenges, and various modes of play, these simple games offer many hours of gameplay. I've enjoyed every PopCap game I've ever played and Bejeweled 3 is no exception.

Bejeweled 3 is another example of a "match 3" game. The purpose is to match at least three consecutive gems of a given color. That is easy enough but proper strategy involves thinking ahead to setup future moves. The game starts with four game modes: Classic, Zen, Lightning, and Quest. I played them all and unlocked four additional modes: Poker, Butterflies, Ice Storm, and Diamond Mine. After 15 hours or so, I've accomplished almost everything I set out to do. The one exception is the completion of Quest mode. I finished 39 out of 40 quests but have yet to complete the Poker III quest. That quest's goal is to earn 4000 points within ten hands, which is quite a lot. You need a lot of flushes to achieve that. Even averaging a full house every hand (350 points) isn't enough.

Overall, I really liked the game. Until I completed most of the quests and earned most of the badges, I found it hard to stop playing.


My growing collection of Bejeweled 3 badges