The final major mode is "Quest," where you try your mouse at a series of puzzles and minigames. It's a comparatively relaxing mode, but I wouldn't cancel your yoga class anytime soon. When gems are exploding and electrifying, it's difficult to locate your Zen. Despite this knowledge, a good set of headphones, and full-screen game play, I didn't experience anything close to meditation. There are even musical tones outside the range of human hearing that are supposed to assist meditation by inducing brain waves associated with dream states. The updated mode features oodles of enhancements, including a breathing modulation mode developed with scientists who used biofeedback to help players relax. An update to "Endless" mode, "Zen" lets you play for as long as you please: There's always another move, so you cannot lose. The animated backgrounds, enhanced graphics, and accelerated game play left my nerves frayed. I enjoyed "Lightning" in the way that I enjoy a New York City cab ride: I'm happy to have escaped in one piece. Here you can add valuable seconds to the clock by blasting special gems, and creating chains racks up speed bonuses. "Lightning," a 60-second time trial, revisits the popular "Blitz" mode. There's the standard "Classic" mode, where you match gems and climb levels until you exhaust moves. Like the previous iteration, Bejeweled 3 also allows you to tab between it and other open applications, automatically pausing your game while you work.Ībout half of the game ought to be familiar to existing players. There's a small button in the top-right corner of the screen that enables you to shrink from full-screen to a window (though I was a bit disappointed to see I couldn't reverse the process without opening the game settings). Understanding the addictive quality of its creation, PopCap makes it easy to juggle game play with day-to-day tasks. (Opens in a new window) Read Our Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (for PC) Review The new soundtrack, shifting from soothing to stirring, complements game play and reflects a welcome upgrade, especially with decent headphones. I chose to rev my settings to "Ultra," which, at twice the resolution of "Normal" (1,920 by 1,200 versus 800 by 600), reveals shimmering gems, animated backdrops, and impressive visual effects. Once I launched the app, I saw where all those bytes went. The operating system requirement isn't a tall order for Windows users-if you bought your computer in the past six years, it ought to run the right software-however, for Mac users, you'll want to double-check compatibility if your computer is more than three years old. It also requires Mac OS 10.5 or higher or XP SP2 or higher on a PC. I downloaded Bejeweled 3 directly to a MacBook Pro, and I was surprised at its size: At nearly 120MB, Bejeweled 3 is almost exactly 100MB larger than its predecessor. Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. ( See how we test everything we review (Opens in a new window).) Anyone can play-kids, parents, and grandparents-and they can play on an expanding array of platforms. The elegant simplicity of Bejeweled accounts for much of its popularity. There are all sorts of variations on this theme, but they're just that: variations. Aligning five gems creates a Hypercube, which, when swapped with an adjacent gem, eliminates all jewels of that color.
Four adjacent gems create a Power Gem, a hyperactive gem that, when detonated, will toss away surrounding gems. You work with a board of multicolored gems, matching three or more by swapping adjacent gems. Featuring high-resolution graphics, a new soundtrack, and a treasure chest of new modes and minigames, Bejeweled 3 is a heaping upgrade to its predecessor, well worth the $20 cost of admission.įor those productive individuals not yet enticed by Bejeweled, the game is a casual gaming classic.
PopCap Games' gem-blasting franchise sees a new entry in Bejeweled 3, which is available for boxed purchase at retail stores or for immediate Mac and PC download. How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication.How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.How to Block Robotexts and Spam Messages.