14 DAY TRIAL // Since PopCap, the leader in casual game development and publishing, released the Bejeweled Twist six weeks ago for PCs, the game has received nothing but the most favorable reviews. At the same time, it has also been enjoying great success on the market, becoming the best sold game of its kind, and not only.
The reasons behind the huge success registered so far by the puzzle franchise are more than relevant, as it was because of the changes made to this new Bejeweled release that gamers’ interest was still locked. Furthermore, if you recall, the first Bejeweled was also a hit, becoming the second best sold game in North America last year.
In any case, the new version has kept the features and characteristics of the PC game, since it was such a great success – actually, there are no changes really worth mentioning. Andrew Stein, director of mobile business development at PopCap, spoke to the media about this, as well as about some of the reasons for its success.
“Gamers anxiously awaited the launch of Bejeweled Twist on the PC, and it has more than lived up to players’ expectations, which is why we’re thrilled to bring an amazingly accurate translation to the mobile market, featuring all the same game modes and challenges as the original. [...] Bejeweled Twist is a rare achievement in the casual games category: accessible to novice players, but with unmatched challenge and flexibility in its gameplay. The mobile version is well suited for gaming on-the-go, offering four distinct ways to play from fast-paced action and strategy to a stress-busting, Zen-like experience.” Stein said.
If you really want to understand the features that really make this game a revolutionary one, we must focus on the differences this game brings from all other such puzzle games that have never tried such an approach. First of all, the game bends the rules a bit and, instead of being forced to play the traditional match-3 games, the player has now more choices available.
Moreover, other ways of playing the game have also been added, allowing you to not just mix the gems together, but also to rotate the entire 2x2 block of stones clockwise, thus creating the line of wanted gems. On top of all this, the game offers the possibility of rotating the gems anywhere on the board, offering you the freedom you've been looking for in this kind of game. Nonetheless, with this freedom comes a better gaming experience, but some difficulties might also be heading your way, since the variety of strategies, combinations and moves will now increase. Thus, the game difficulty will also increase.
To keep things interesting for a longer while, Bejeweled Twist comes with some new kind of gems than it did not have in the previous release, introducing the Flame, Lightning and Fruit gems, which offer great “special effects” and deliver a truly spectacular gaming experience. As a final test stone, the game really challenges your skills by adding the Bomb, Coal and Locked gems, which, as their name implies, are really hard to “crack.”
Finally, this Bejeweled version comes with 4 game modes, namely Classic, Blitz, Challenge and Zen, each more difficult and challenging than the other. Another great news is that Bejeweled Twist is compatible with touch supported phones.
