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Bejeweled (video game)

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Bejeweled
Steam header
Developer(s)PopCap Games
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Jason Kapalka[2]
Composer(s)Peter Hajba
SeriesBejeweled
EnginePopCap Games Framework
Platform(s)
ReleaseMay 30, 2001[1]
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player

Bejeweled (also referred as Bejeweled Deluxe in some releases) is a match-three video game developed and published by PopCap Games, developed initially for browsers in 2001. The first game developed by PopCap under their current name, Bejeweled involves lining up three or more multi-colored gems to clear them from the game board, with chain reactions potentially following.

Originally starting out as a Java web browser game titled Diamond Mine, Bejeweled would later be developed into a retail title and was released for PCs on May 30, 2001, with the name Bejeweled Deluxe.

The game sold over 10 million copies and has been downloaded more than 150 million times.[3] The game was followed by several sequels and spin-offs, with the game being followed by a direct sequel in 2004.

Gameplay

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Normal gameplay mode

The main objective of Bejeweled involves attempting to swap two adjacent gems of seven colors (colored red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and white) to create a line or row of three or more gems, which disappear once lined up. Lining up more than four gems or performing multiple matches at once awards bonus points. When gems are cleared from the board, gems above the game board fall downwards, potentially causing chain reactions, which award more points to the player. The player is able to use the Hint button to find a match, but will subtract points and reduce the progress bar if used.

Bejeweled features two game modes, each with a different set of rules.

The Normal (Simple in the web version) game mode involves attempting to score as many points as possible. Scoring points fills up the progress bar on the bottom of the screen. When filled completely, the player progresses to the next level, where the board is reset, and the points multiplier is increased by 0.5. (On Level 1, a match of three is worth 10 points, on Level 2 it is worth 15, on Level 3 20, etc.) The number of points required to reach the next level also increases in turn. When no more moves are possible, the game ends.

The Time Trial (Timed in the web version) game mode features similar rules to the Normal mode, with the only difference being that the progress bar drains when the player is not making any moves. The progress bar starts halfway at the beginning of each level, and drains away faster in later levels. When the bar empties, the game ends. If the player runs out of moves in this mode, a new game board appears instead of getting a game over.[4]

Development

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After a failed venture into online pornography with Foxy Poker (2000), the video game developer Sexy Action Cool shifted to developing simple video games to license to other companies.[5][6] In April 2000, its cofounders business manager John Vechey, programmer Brian Fiete, and designer Jason Kapalka discovered a match-three browser game titled Colors Game, which was reportedly primitive.[7] It used squares as graphics, required the webpage to be refreshed between moves to update the game, and did not have animation or sound effects.[6][8] Finding the match-three mechanic addictive, the team was inspired to develop a more polished version of the game.[6]

Though Kapalka considered using fruits or geometric shapes for the graphics, he ultimately picked geometric gems, as the fruits lacked visual diversity and the shapes lacked visual appeal.[5] The game, originally titled Diamond Mine after a song by Canadian country rock band Blue Rodeo, initially had a cave mining theme prior to its rename to Bejeweled.[5] It was initially timed-based by default at the suggestion of other game developers such as Pogo.com, with the goal being to maximize one's score before the timer ran out.[9][8] Though an untimed mode was only included as an afterthought to serve as a tutorial, it would become the main mode associated with Bejeweled upon positive feedback from players.[5][6]

Release

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Diamond Mine was released for browsers in 2000, first appearing on Sexy Action Cool's website. As the team considered the marketing their games to other outlets, Sexy Action Cool was renamed to PopCap Games to make their brand more marketable.[10] PopCap offered Diamond Mine to Microsoft for $50,000, which Microsoft rejected. They instead offered to lease the game for $15,000 per month for their online gaming portal MSN Gaming Zone.[5][11] Microsoft requested that PopCap rename the game to Bejeweled, due to Diamond Mine sounding similar to another game titled Diamond Mines. Kapalka conceded to the name despite disliking its similarity to the film Bedazzled.[12]

The retail version of the game, Bejeweled Deluxe, featured pre-rendered 3D sprites, in-game music, a save feature and more. It was originally released for Microsoft Windows on May 30, 2001.[4] A port for Mac OS X was developed and published by MacPlay and released on June 28, 2002.[13]

Ports and re-releases

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The game has been ported to several different platforms following the release of Bejeweled Deluxe. Ports for the BlackBerry PDA, Palm OS and Windows Mobile were developed by Astraware and released in 2001. A version for Xbox was developed by Oberon Media and released as a downloadable Xbox Live Arcade game. A web app version of the game made for iOS Safari was released on October 11, 2007.[14] A plug-and-play version of the game was developed by PopCap and HotGen, and published by Jakks Pacific in 2008. A version for the iPod Clickwheel was developed by Astraware and was released on September 12, 2006.[15]

A version of the game for Java-supported cell phones was published by Electronic Arts in 2008.[16]

The iPod, Java and plug-and-play versions of the game feature Bejeweled 2 graphics and sound, instead of the game's original graphics and sound.

Legacy

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Bejeweled launched the casual games industry and popularized the match-three genre of puzzle games.[17][8][18] According to Kapalka, casual gaming arised from the exclusion of a default timer in Bejeweled, allowing for gaming that did not require skill, which they called "Games for Moms".[8][6] The commercial success of Bejeweled allowed PopCap to develop small casual games with high-production values to be ported on a wide-range of platforms, with games such as Bookworm, Peggle, and entries of the Bejewled series being developed for multiple years.[8][6] The success and simplicity of Bejeweled and other games developed by PopCap influenced independent video game studios to invest in developing low-cost video games for high profits. As a result, within a decade, the casual games industry grew to be worth $3 billion.[19] This influence led Bejeweled to be the first mobile game inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2020.[20]

Developers such as King, Playrix, and Demiurge have created popular mobile games that tweaked Bejeweled's match-three formula. For example, Demiurge's Puzzle Quest (2007) fuses match-three gameplay with role-playing game conventions, King's Candy Crush Saga (2012) includes power-ups and stylized levels, and Playrix's Gardenscapes (2016) involves renovating a garden through successful match-three rounds. The market of match-three games following Bejeweled has become saturated, with over 2000 games in the genre having been released. Video games in this genre have often been called Bejeweled clones and are often accused of lacking innovation.[21][18]

The Bejeweled series consists of two direct sequels and several spin-offs. According to Kapalka, much of the entries took years to develop and focused on adding new features to the classic formula.[5] Of the direct sequels, Bejeweled 2 released in 2004 to mixed reviews,[22][23] while Bejeweled 3 released in 2010 to postive reviews.[24][25] Of the spin-offs, Bejeweled Twist released in 2008 and Bejeweled Blitz released in 2009 to positive reviews,[26][27][28][29] while Bejeweled Stars released in 2016 to mixed reviews.[30][31] The game series overall has been commercially successful, with combined sales of Bejeweled, Bejeweled Twist, and Bejeweled Blitz reaching 50 million by 2010.[32][33]

References

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  1. ^ Bejeweled Readme Archived June 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Bejeweled Readme: Credits Archived June 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Mark Ward (March 18, 2008). "Casual games make a serious impact". BBC News. BBC. Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "Bejeweled® Deluxe Readme". June 12, 2010. Archived from the original on June 12, 2010. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Brendan Sinclair (March 3, 2011). "Polishing Bejeweled". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Walker, John (July 10, 2020). "From Bejeweled To Plants Vs Zombies: How PopCap Got Just About Everyone To Play Their Games". Kotaku. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  7. ^ Goldberg, Harold (2011). All Your Base are Belong to Us: How Fifty Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture. Three Rivers Press. pp. 250–251. ISBN 9780307463555.
  8. ^ a b c d e Jensen, K. Thor (May 30, 2021). "20 Years Ago, Bejeweled Kicked Off the Age of Casual Gaming". PCMag. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  9. ^ Goldberg 2011, p. 251.
  10. ^ Vechey, John (November 1, 2010). "Interview: John Vechey on founding PopCap, making Bejeweled". PC Gamer (Interview). Interviewed by Graham Smith. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  11. ^ Goldberg 2011, p. 252.
  12. ^ Edward, Jim (September 11, 2013). "Bejeweled: The Definitive, Illustrated History Of The Most Underrated Game Ever". Business Insider. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  13. ^ "MacPlay". April 2, 2003. Archived from the original on April 2, 2003. Retrieved March 27, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ^ "Entry of Bejeweled on Apple's Web App listing". Apple, Inc. October 11, 2007. Archived from the original on February 10, 2011.
  15. ^ "Bejeweled for iPod Classic (2006)". MobyGames. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  16. ^ "EA and PopCap Extend Bejeweled Agreement" (PDF). March 9, 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 20, 2021.
  17. ^ Wyman, Michael Thorton (2010). A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players. MIT Press. pp. 27, 100. ISBN 9780262013376.
  18. ^ a b Lien, Tracy (February 26, 2014). "From Bejeweled to Candy Crush: Finding the key to match-3". Polygon. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  19. ^ Goldberg 2011, pp. 255–256.
  20. ^ "Bejeweled, Minecraft among games inducted into hall of fame | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  21. ^ Lipscombe, Daniel (August 30, 2019). "The legacy of match-three games – from Bejeweled to Candy Crush". GamesRadar+. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  22. ^ Zweizen, Zack (November 16, 2019). "15 Years Later, November 2004 Might Still Be One Of The Best Months In Video Game History". Kotaku. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  23. ^ "Bejeweled 2". Metacritic. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  24. ^ Smith, Quintin (December 8, 2010). "Get Stoned: Bejeweled 3 Released, Demo". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  25. ^ "Bejeweled 3". Metacritic. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  26. ^ Benedetti, Winda (November 7, 2008). "Bejeweled has a brand-new twist". NBC News. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  27. ^ Cavalli, Earnest (January 7, 2009). "PopCap Brings Competitive Bejeweled to Facebook". Wired. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  28. ^ "Bejeweled Twist". Metacritic. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  29. ^ "Bejeweled Blitz". Metacritic. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  30. ^ Perez, Daniel (May 10, 2016). "Bejeweled Stars now available on iOS, Android". Shacknews. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  31. ^ "Bejeweled Stars". Metacritic. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  32. ^ Alexander, Leigh (February 9, 2010). "Bejeweled Sales Hit 50 Million". Game Developer. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  33. ^ Schreier, Jason (July 12, 2011). "EA Snags Bejeweled Creator PopCap in $750M Deal". Wired. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
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