Game Review: ‘Bejeweled 3′ for PC

So first there was Bejeweled, and that was awesome. Then there was Bejeweled 2, and that was awesome too. So you might be asking yourself, “Do we really need a Bejeweled 3? Weren’t two of these jeweled-swapping games enough?” My answer to you, doubters and naysayers, is that yes, we did need Bejeweled 3. Because it is indeed awesome, and brings some really new, innovative game modes, cool graphics, and more of the jewel-swapping, color matching madness that we all know and love.

At its core, Bejeweled 3 does provide more of the same, but there’s nothing really wrong with that. It brings the well-known Classic mode, the untimed game that only ends when there are no more moves on the board. It also has Lightening Mode, which is basically the same as the previous Action Mode, or the timed version. Zen Mode is the same as Endless, with no time limit or end to the game if moves run out. These modes feature new music and graphics, and they’re a nice update to their previous counterparts in Bejeweled 2.

What I really want to talk about is Quest Mode, which is quite different from Puzzle Mode in Bejeweled 2. In Quest Mode, there five levels, with eight puzzles to solve in each level. As you progress through the levels, the nature of the quests remain pretty similar while the difficulty increases. The quests vary from clearing gems in a certain amount of time to matching 10 time bomb gems before they run out of time and explode.

For example, Stratamax is a quest to match 120 gems in only 20 moves. My favorite quest was Poker, which challenged players to match gems to create Poker hands, each of which were worth a certain amount of points. For example, a flush would be to have five gem matches of all the same color. Quest Mode was a welcome addition to Bejeweled, and definitely challenged me to the point where I wouldn’t sleep without finishing a quest that had really been giving me a run for my money.

While Bejewled was once a way to pass time between classes, while other games were loading, or when your boss isn’t looking, Bejeweled 3 has provided enough new content to change what we expect from future puzzle games. If you think you’ve played enough gem-swap games in your lifetime, think again, and give Bejewled 3 a spin.

Bejeweled 3 is available on both Windows and Mac.