Bejeweled Twist

Last updated

Bejeweled Twist
Bejeweled Twist cover.jpg
Cover art
Developer(s) PopCap Games
Griptonite Games (co-developer for DS)
Publisher(s) PopCap Games
Square Enix (DSiWare, Japan)
Media Sales & Licensing (Nintendo DS)
Designer(s) Jason Kapalka
Brian Fiete [1]
Composer(s) Peter Hajba, Philippe Charron
Series Bejeweled
Engine PopCap Games Framework
Platform(s) Windows, Java ME, Mobile, Zeebo, Flash, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi (DSiWare), Symbian^3
ReleaseOctober 27, 2008 (Windows) [2]
November 30, 2009 (browser)
May 7, 2009 (mobile) [3]
December 14, 2009 (DSiWare) [4]
January 19, 2010 (Nintendo DS) [5]
Genre(s) Puzzle
Mode(s) Single-player, Multi-player

Bejeweled Twist is a tile-matching puzzle video game developed and published by PopCap Games. It is the third game overall and first spin-off game in the Bejeweled series, as well as being the first PopCap title to be released in high definition and feature widescreen support.

Contents

Bejeweled Twist differs greatly compared to previous entries in the series. Instead of swapping two adjacent gems, the player now rotates four clockwise. The game features four modes and introduces several new elements to the series, including the Lightning Gem, the Supernova Gem, and Bad Gems, as well as Instant Replay features and improved ranking systems.

The game was originally released on October 27, 2008, for Microsoft Windows and has received mixed to positive reviews.

Gameplay

Bejeweled Twist plays similarly to its predecessors. Instead of swapping two adjacent gems, the player rotates four gems in a 2x2 space clockwise. Like its predecessors, the game involves attempting to create matches of three or more gems in a row to clear them from the board. When this occurs, the gems above it are affected by gravity, falling down and potentially creating cascades.

Unlike previous entries in the series, it is no longer required for a move to create a match of gems. Making consecutive valid matches adds ticks to the multiplier bar at the top left of the screen. When the multiplier bar is filled, the score multiplier increases, with the multiplier going as high as 10. When the multiplier is filled at the tenth multiplier, it will begin filling in a new rainbow layer onto the bar. When it is filled, a Bad Gem (or if there is not any, a random gem) will turn into a Fruit Gem, which destroys all gems of its color off the board when matched, similar to the Hypercube in previous entries, as well as adding extra ticks to Bomb and Doom Gems, and destroying all locks from the board.

Like its predecessors, Special Gems return. Making matches of four gems in a row, L, +, or T shape matches create a Flame Gem, which destroys the eight gems surrounding it when matched. New to the game is the Lightning Gem, created by making a match of five gems in a row. The Lightning Gem destroys all gems on its row and column when activated. Additionally, matching six or more gems in a row creates a Supernova Gem, which destroys all the gems in its row and column on a 3x3 radius.

New to this game are Coals, which cannot be matched, but release a large point bonus when destroyed. Twist introduces Bad Gems, which usually hinder the player's progress. Bomb Gems must be destroyed before their counters hit 0, which causes them to explode and end the game. Locked Gems prevent the player from rotating an area of gems with a lock. Doom Gems cannot be matched or moved, and their counter only goes down when matchless moves are made.

Other new gimmicks include the Speed Bonus, which gives the player a score bonus if consecutive matches are made quickly enough, the Bonus Challenge, which provides the player with extra ticks and the destruction of a Bad Gem when the gems shown on the panel are matched in order, and the Mega Fruit Bonus, which is activated after the detonation of a Fruit Gem and awards a large number of points when performed successfully.

Bejeweled Twist features a ranking system, which increases depending on how well the player plays. Completing levels in Classic and Zen, completing challenges in Challenge, and completing games of Blitz awards the player with stars, which vary in amount based on how much the player has scored in the game mode/level.

There are several different modes of gameplay available.

Development

Background and conception

As of 2008, PopCap Games' Bejeweled , which began in 2000, was one of the most popular casual game franchises, garnering 350 million downloads, 25 million sales, and releases on various personal computers, consoles, and mobile devices such as the iPod and iPad. [7] [8] In addition to establishing PopCap as a notable developer and significantly increasing the casual game market, Bejeweled, made up 30-to-40-percent of the company's revenue at the time of Bejeweled Twist's release, claimed company workers. [9] [8] While match-three gameplay was implemented in titles like Columns (1990), Bejeweled was the first to popularize it with casual gamers, influencing the creation of several more products of its kind. [8] [10] According to game journalists, its wide appeal resulted from its addictiveness; it had a simple, pick-up-and-play gameplay formula that still challenged players with the right mixture of luck and skill. [7] [8]

Bejeweled Twist began as a game independent of the Bejeweled series, Zongo. PopCap initially intended the project as experimentation with a two-by-two rotation mechanic, and Bejeweled's graphics were only used as placeholders. [11] Planned rotatable items included fruit and sushi. However, after a year of development, the staff thought the items were not as enjoyable to move any object as it was with gems. [12] [11] Thus, the project switched to a Bejeweled spin-off named Bejeweled Twist. [12] PopCap CEO Dave Roberts explained that the project was a huge risk for its rotation aspect and it took a long time to design and program the game to be enjoyable: "We have been very cautious about how we deal with the franchise. If our only focus was uncaringly trying to print money, we would have made a new ‘Bejeweled’ game every six months. But the studio here, they don’t want to do that." [8] A similar sentiment was shared by journalists of the gaming press. These included Brandon Sheffield of Game Developer ; though reporting there was still a boom in the casual games market, he also highlighted the lack of AAA titles in it. [9]

PopCap initially planned for the ability for the gems to be rotated in any way. However, as founder Jason Kapalka theorized, it would mean too many possible moves for the average player to consider, resulting in slower gameplay. Additionally, he explained that the concept was not well-received by testers and that one of the direction buttons would have to be right-clicked, which would not be instinctual for gamers. [13] For casual gamers to adapt to the new rotating mechanic, visual cues such as a vortex indicating the rotation direction were incorporated, and easy levels and tutorial were added early in the game: "If you start a game like that where you're still learning, and it's kicking your ass while you're learning it -- that's kind of harsh." [13]

Production

According to staff, Bejeweled Twist took an estimated three-to-four year development, with a budget of $1–1.5 million and two-to-seven workers, larger than the usual PopCap project, as well as most casual games. [14] The project started with one coder, Kurt Pfeifer. [15] However after realizing the technical aspects and programming would be larger than PopCap's past projects, the company expanded the team to four programmers and three artists working on various aspects, which PopCap founder John Vechey considered "insane" due to the game's straightforward style. [9] [15] To make the process streamlined, the staff changed to three individuals directed to specific tasks: Chris Hargrove on the new graphics engine, Josh Langley for 3D animations, and Chief Technology Officer Brian Fiete on other new elements. [15] Bejeweled Twist's development influenced PopCap to have multiple people involved in future projects; Kapalka felt technical issues early in development could have been solved sooner if multiple developers were there to fix them. [16]

Kapalk described Bejeweled Twist's code as a Bejeweled 2 variant with alterations "hacked in and then out again". This coding led to so many bugs and glitches in the final project that PopCap's third-party compatibility tester refused to work on it, meaning PopCap compatibility-tested in-house. Kapalka, on recollection, argued the design should have been finalized first then a new codebase written. [16] With Bejeweled Twist, a new set of tools and engines were introduced in PopCap's pipeline; this included support for 1080p quality and True 3D that could still be seen at lower resolutions, and new resource management and source control systems. [15] For graphics to be imported faster, the ResourceGen tool was created; it allowed multi-layered Photoshop .PSD files to be imported directly into the code instead of having to break down layers of a file. [17]

The soundtrack to the game is composed by Finnish musician Peter Hajba, known by his demoscene nickname Skaven, and Phillipe Charon. [6] The voice in the main menu and during gameplay is performed by Ken Tamplin. [6]

Release

Bejeweled Twist was initially released on PC on October 27, 2008. [18] It was originally released on PopCap.com, but became available on other sites. The game is currently available on Origin for PC and Steam, as of now. Following its initial release, the game was ported to several other platforms.

Bejeweled Twist was ported to the Adobe Flash Player platform on November 30, 2009. The Flash version of the game only features Classic and a 3-minute version of Blitz. The online version of the game also lacks the Bonus Challenge feature.

On May 7, 2009, Bejeweled Twist was ported over to cellphones through the Java ME platform. [19]

A downloadable version of Bejeweled Twist was released on the Nintendo DSi through the Nintendo DSi Shop's DSiWare platform on December 14, 2009. [20] The DSi version contained the PC version's Classic Mode and an exclusive multiplayer Battle mode, where players who had two DS systems with two copies of the game could battle against each other. A physical version of the game, containing the game's other modes and features, was released on January 19, 2010. [21] The DSiWare version of the game would release on the Nintendo 3DS' Nintendo eShop on July 7, 2011. [22] The DSiWare version of the game was discontinued in March 2023, [23] alongside the closure of the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Reception

Bejeweled Twist received generally positive reviews. [24] [25]

Bejeweled Twist was claimed by PALGN's Kimberley Ellis and IGN 's Levi Buchanan to be one of the most polished casual games at the time. [30] [10] Critics described the music and sound effects as exceptional, "catchy" and "hypnotic". [7] [30] [10] Buchanan called it one of the few casual games soundtracks worthy of being played loudly, highlighting the Blitz Mode theme. [30] The visuals were also praised for the colorfulness, the look of the gems, and between-stage animations. [7] [30] [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Bejeweled</i> 2001 puzzle video game

Bejeweled is a tile-matching puzzle video game 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PopCap Games</span> American video game developer

PopCap Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Seattle, and a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. The company was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka.

<i>Bejeweled 2</i> 2004 puzzle video game

Bejeweled 2 is a tile-matching puzzle video game developed and published by PopCap Games. Released as a sequel to Bejeweled, Bejeweled 2 introduces new game mechanics, such as Special Gems and extra game modes, along with new visuals and sounds.

<i>Bookworm</i> (video game) 2003 video game

Bookworm is a word-forming puzzle video game by PopCap Games. From a grid of available letters, players connect letters to form words. As words are formed, they are removed from the grid and the remaining letters collapse to fill the available space. Players earn more points by creating longer words or words which use less common letters and earn less for smaller words. In November 2006, PopCap Games released a sequel, Bookworm Adventures. Bookworm was released for the Nintendo DS digital distribution service DSiWare on November 30, 2009. It has also been released on the regular Nintendo DS cartridge.

<i>Pop</i> (video game) 2008 video game

Pop is a WiiWare and iOS video game by Australian developer Nnooo. The game was released in North America on May 12, 2008 as a WiiWare launch title, and in Europe on July 4, 2008. It was released by Electronic Arts in Japan on July 29, 2008. The iOS version was released on the App Store on March 5, 2009. The game was also released for the DSiWare service under the title Pop+ Solo.

<i>Brain Age Express</i> Series of educational video games

Brain Age Express are three educational puzzle video games developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare download service. They are the third series of games in the Brain Age series, and are repackaged versions of both Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! and Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! games, featuring both old and new puzzles.

<i>Picopict</i> 2009 video game

Picopict, known as Pictobits in North America and as Pictopict in Australia, is a puzzle video game developed by Skip Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare digital distribution service. It is one of seven games released for the DSi's Art Style series of video games. It was announced on January 26, 2009, was released two days later alongside Somnium, another Art Style game, and was released in North America and PAL regions in the same year, on May 18 and May 22 respectively. In Picopict, players use the touchscreen to move coloured blocks into a formation, such as a four-block line or a 2x2 square. This contributes to an 8-bit image, which consist of various Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) characters, such as Mario, Link, and Bowser.

<i>Need for Speed: Nitro</i> 2009 video game

Need for Speed: Nitro is a racing video game and the fourteenth title of the Need for Speed series. It was published by Electronic Arts for the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms. It is also one of only two games in the franchise to date to not be made for PC and the only game of the franchise to be released only for Nintendo consoles. It was announced in January as part of a three-game announcement that includes Need for Speed: Shift and Need for Speed: World. The game was developed by EA Montreal who have previous experience with Nintendo titles, although the DS version was developed separately by Firebrand Games' Florida studio. An improved version of the DS edition of the game, Need for Speed: Nitro-X, was released for DSiWare on November 26, 2010.

<i>Gyromancer</i> 2009 video game

Gyromancer is a puzzle and role-playing video game developed by PopCap Games in collaboration with Square Enix. The player moves through a map of an enchanted forest, battling monsters using their own summoned monsters through a puzzle-game battle based on PopCap's Bejeweled Twist. In these battles, the player rotates groups of four in a grid of gems to line up three or more jewels of the same color; when enough lines have been created damage is dealt to the enemy. Between battles, a story is told through a series of cutscenes, while the player and the summoned monsters gain experience and power using role-playing elements.

<i>Zumas Revenge!</i> 2009 video game

Zuma's Revenge! is a 2009 tile-matching puzzle video game developed and published by PopCap Games. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, as a sequel to the earlier 2003 video game, Zuma, and was later ported to Windows Phone.

<i>Fishdom</i> 2008 video game

Fishdom is a puzzle game developed by Playrix for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Android, iOS, and iPadOS. The game was launched 19 June 2008.

Combat of Giants is a series of video games published by Ubisoft, exclusively for Nintendo systems. It was called Battle of Giants in North America until 2011 when Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D was released using the original name.

<i>Bejeweled Blitz</i> 2010 puzzle video game

Bejeweled Blitz is a puzzle video game, originally a Facebook application which was developed and published by PopCap Games; since 2011 Electronic Arts took over the publishing and distribution duty after EA acquired PopCap. It developed into a downloadable game, based on the then-in-development Bejeweled 3 engine, due to popularity of the differences from Bejeweled 2 and its new graphics. As with the Bejeweled series, Bejeweled Blitz is based on the Shariki game mechanic. It is the fourth game of the Bejeweled franchise and initially was available on iOS as part of the Bejeweled 2 iOS application, later on with the standalone iOS application. The game was then released on Android devices.

<i>Bejeweled 3</i> 2011 puzzle video game

Bejeweled 3 is a tile-matching puzzle video game developed and published by PopCap Games. It is the fifth game in the Bejeweled series following Bejeweled Blitz and succeeds Bejeweled 2 as the latest mainline title in the Bejeweled series. It was released for PC and Mac on December 7, 2010, as part of the 10 Years of Bejeweled celebration, which celebrated the 10th anniversary of Bejeweled, and has been ported to several other consoles afterward.

Bejeweled is a series of tile-matching puzzle video games created by PopCap Games. Bejeweled was released initially for browsers in 2001, followed by seven sequels: Bejeweled 2 (2004), Bejeweled Twist (2008), Bejeweled Blitz (2009), Bejeweled 3 (2010), Bejeweled LegendBejeweled Stars (2016), and Bejeweled Champions (2020) all by PopCap Games and its parent, Electronic Arts. More than 10 million copies of Bejeweled have been sold, and the game has been downloaded more than 350 million times. By February 2010, Bejeweled sales hit 50 million. The figure includes the original game, plus the Blitz and Twist versions. An arcade version was released in Q3 2013.

<i>Art Academy</i> (video game) 2009 video game

Art Academy, also known as Art Academy: Learn painting and drawing techniques with step-by-step training in the PAL regions and Artistic Taste Classroom DS in Japan, is an art training software for the Nintendo DS. It was developed by Headstrong Games and published by Nintendo. Art Academy was originally a two-part training application only available for download via the DSiWare service since 2009. It was later re-released in 2010 as a fully compiled, retail-able DS Game Card with added features, thus also making it available for original Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite users.

<i>Plants vs. Zombies</i> (video game) 2009 tower defense video game

Plants vs. Zombies is a 2009 tower defense video game developed and published by PopCap Games. First released for Windows and Mac OS X, the game has since been ported to consoles, handhelds, and mobile devices. The player takes the role of a homeowner amid a zombie apocalypse. As a horde of zombies approaches along several parallel lanes, the player must defend their home by placing plants, which fire projectiles at the zombies or otherwise detrimentally affect them. The player collects a currency called sun to buy plants. If a zombie happens to make it to the house on any lane, the player loses the level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tile-matching video game</span> Type of puzzle video game

A tile-matching video game is a type of puzzle video game where the player manipulates tiles in order to make them disappear according to a matching criterion. In many tile-matching games, that criterion is to place a given number of tiles of the same type so that they adjoin each other. That number is often three, and these games are called match-three games.

Jason Kapalka is a Canadian game developer and entrepreneur based in the Comox Valley and Vancouver, British Columbia. He is best known as one of the founders, along with John Vechey and Brian Fiete, of the video game studio PopCap Games, which was founded in 2000 and sold to Electronic Arts in 2011; PopCap was originally titled “Sexy Action Cool,” but the name was changed when it was found to be misleading to many players. Kapalka is listed at #82 on IGN's list of the top 100 game creators of all time.

References

  1. ↑ Bejeweled Twist: Credits Archived May 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ "PopCap Unleashes Bejeweled Twist On Unsuspecting Public". PopCap Games. October 27, 2008. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
  3. ↑ "PopCap Games Launches Mobile Version of Bejeweled Twist". PopCap Games. May 7, 2009. Archived from the original on June 26, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
  4. ↑ "PopCap Launches Bejeweled Twist for NintendoDSiWare". PopCap Games. December 14, 2009. Archived from the original on December 22, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
  5. ↑ "PopCap Expands Bookworm and Bejeweled Twist Franchises With All-New Adaptations for Nintendo DSiWare and Nintendo DS". PopCap Games. September 21, 2009. Archived from the original on June 26, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 "Bejeweled Twist Readme". Archived from the original on August 13, 2009.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Terrones, Terry (November 5, 2008). "Review: Bejeweled Twist". GamePro . Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Benedetti, Winda (November 7, 2008). "'Bejeweled' has a brand-new twist". NBC News . Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 Sheffield, Brandon (October 29, 2008). "In-Depth: On Bejeweled Twist And 'The Mom Test'". Game Developer . Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Ellis, Kimberley (April 5, 2009). "Bejeweled Twist Review". PALGN. Archived from the original on September 26, 2009. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  11. 1 2 Wyman 2010, p. 115.
  12. 1 2 McElroy, Justin (December 23, 2008). "What a twist! How Bejeweled Twist went from sushi to sensation". Gamezebo . Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  13. 1 2 Sheffield, Brandon (January 2, 2009). "Casual Game Design: PopCap's Jason Kapalka and Bejeweled Twist". Game Developer . Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  14. ↑ Wyman 2010, p. 116–118.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Wyman 2010, p. 118.
  16. 1 2 Wyman 2010, p. 122.
  17. ↑ Wyman 2010, p. 119.
  18. ↑ Wyman 2010, p. 116.
  19. ↑ "PopCap Games Launches Mobile Version of Bejeweled Twist™ - May 07, 2009". June 26, 2010. Archived from the original on June 26, 2010. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  20. ↑ "PopCap Launches Bejeweled Twist™ for NintendoDSiWare - Dec 14, 2009". December 22, 2009. Archived from the original on December 22, 2009. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  21. ↑ "PopCap Expands Bookworm™ and Bejeweled Twist™ Franchises With All-New Adaptations for Nintendo DSiWare and Nintendo DS - Sep 21, 2009". June 26, 2010. Archived from the original on June 26, 2010. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Bejeweled Twist™". Nintendo of Europe GmbH (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Archived copy". Twitter. Archived from the original on February 19, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. 1 2 "Bejeweled Twist Critic Reviews for DS". Metacritic . Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  25. 1 2 "Bejeweled Twist Critic Reviews for PC". Metacritic . Archived from the original on November 11, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  26. ↑ Gibson, Ellie (November 21, 2008). "Bejeweled Twist Review". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  27. ↑ Windy (March 5, 2010). "Bejeweled Twist". GameRevolution . Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  28. ↑ McShea, Tom (March 11, 2010). "Bejeweled Twist". GameSpot . Archived from the original on March 14, 2010. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  29. ↑ Buchanan, Levi (November 6, 2008). "Bejeweled Twist". IGN . Archived from the original on November 10, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 Buchanan, Levi (December 14, 2009). "Bejeweled Twist DSi Review". IGN . Archived from the original on December 18, 2009. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  31. ↑ Buchanan, Levi (February 9, 2010). "Bejeweled Twist Review". IGN. Archived from the original on February 13, 2010. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  32. ↑ Wahlgren, Jonathan (December 16, 2009). "Bejeweled Twist (DSiWare) review". Nintendo Life . Archived from the original on December 20, 2009. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  33. ↑ Rose, Mike (April 28, 2011). "Bejeweled Twist". Pocket Gamer . Archived from the original on November 6, 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  34. ↑ Mastrapa, Gus (November 17, 2008). "Bejeweled Twist". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2021.

Works cited

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.