Bejeweled: Deluxe

The Good

'Bejeweled' is almost certain to become a classic puzzle game. It has all the right elements: it's simple to learn, fun to play, and difficult to master. The premise is simple enough: you have a field of multi-colored jewels (a la 'Columns'). You can switch any jewel with a jewel adjacent to it, as long as that move results in a row of three or more like-colored jewels. That row disappears, and jewels fall from above to fill in the gaps (a la 'Tetris' and every other falling block game). The game ends when you have no more moves left that would allow you to produce a row of three. Simple enough, huh?

But, this is not just another 'Tetris' clone. You advance to the next level by attaining a certain number of points, which fill a bar at the bottom of the screen. When the bar is full, you progress to the next level. Each level requires twice as many points as the last to progress. At the higher levels it can be very difficult to rack up enough points to continue without making combos. Combos, as in 'Tetris', result when falling jewels cause rows of three, which disappear, causing more jewels to fall, which cause more rows of three, and so on, racking up points very quickly. This is where the strategy element of the game comes into play. It is really important to map out what jewels are going to end up where after your planned move.

The regular game is not timed, so it has a very different feel than a more frantic falling block style game. 'Bejeweled' is much more contemplative, even somewhat reminiscent of Go and Mahjong. There is a timed game as well, in which the progress bar falls throughout the round, and you must clear jewels to make it climb again.

This game is shareware, so a person is free to check it out completely before paying for it. I would encourage everyone to register such a quality product, however. It's really a great new take on a classic genre, and I imagine it will appeal to almost everyone who has enjoyed 'Tetris', 'Columns', or any similar game.

**The Bad**

I've really racked my brain to come up with some negatives about the gameplay, but none come to my mind. I've lost a lot of hours of productivity since I've installed 'Bejeweled' on my office PC. I'm sure that's a negative to someone out there, most likely my employer.

**The Bottom Line**

This is a really fun, simple puzzle game that will likely have a lot of mass appeal. It's the kind of game that will have cloned versions of it turning up on cell phones in a few months. There is already a Palm version available.

'Bejeweled' is really a game that everyone should check out. There is nothing to lose, and a great new classic to gain.