Bejeweled (series)

Last updated
Bejeweled
Bejeweled Logo.png
Genre(s) Puzzle
Developer(s) PopCap Games
Publisher(s) PopCap Games
Electronic Arts
Creator(s) Jason Kapalka [1]
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Xbox 360
Windows Phone
Windows Mobile
Mac OS X
iOS
Android
PlayStation 3
PlayStation Portable
Nintendo DS
Wii
Java ME
Adobe Flash
Palm OS
Symbian^3
PlayStation Vita
Online
Arcade
First release Bejeweled
May 30, 2001
Latest releaseBejeweled Champions
September 9, 2020
Spin-offs Bejeweled Twist , Bejeweled Blitz , Bejeweled Stars

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 Legend (2012, in Japan only) Bejeweled 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. [2] By February 2010, Bejeweled sales hit 50 million. The figure includes the original game, plus the Blitz and Twist versions. [3] An arcade version was released in Q3 2013.

Contents

Games

Release timeline
2001 Bejeweled
2002–2003
2004 Bejeweled 2
2005–2007
2008 Bejeweled Twist
Bejeweled Blitz
2009
2010 Bejeweled 3
2011
2012Bejeweled Legend
2013–2015
2016 Bejeweled Stars
2017–2019
2020Bejeweled Champions
Main series
Spin-offs

Influence

Bejeweled was directly influenced by a web-based game called "Colors Game" (1999), with possible indirect inspiration from games such as Shariki , Tetris Attack , and Columns , although the extent of their impact on Bejeweled's design remains a subject of speculation. [5] [6] [7] [8]

The popularity of Bejeweled has spawned several clones. Collectively known as match three games, these games revolve around the mechanics of creating three-in-a-row combinations of identical pieces.

Legacy

After the release of Bejeweled, the game has been ported to many platforms, including cellphones, smartphones, game consoles, plug and plays, in-flight entertainment displays, and more. The series would be subject to several non-video game products including casino machines, three board games from Hasbro, a web series based on the characters Snackers and Anchovy from Bejeweled Blitz and more.

On September 25, 2008, [9] Bejeweled was officially released as a free addon for the fantasy MMORPG World of Warcraft , alongside Peggle . [10] [11] [12] [13] In addendum to the standard 'Classic' (Normal) and 'Timed' modes, the addon has an exclusive 'Flight' mode, wherein the game begins when the player takes a flight from one in-game location to another, with the goal to score as high as possible before they reach their destination. [14] [9] The WoW addon adds achievements to the game, as well as a levelling system. [14] [9]

In 2014, Bejeweled and Candy Crush Saga (along with many other similar match three games) were proved to be NP-hard. [15] [16]

Bejeweled is often considered an important part of the match-3 genre.[ citation needed ] The series had won multiple awards. By 2013, PopCap estimates that over 10 billion hours of the game had been played on over 500 million downloaded copies. [17] In 2020, Bejeweled was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. [18]

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puzzle video game</span> Video game genre

Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion. Many puzzle games involve a real-time element and require quick thinking, such as Tetris (1985) and Lemmings (1991).

Combinatorial game theory measures game complexity in several ways:

  1. State-space complexity,
  2. Game tree size,
  3. Decision complexity,
  4. Game-tree complexity,
  5. Computational complexity.
<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.

Peter Hajba, also known by his demoscene nickname Skaven, is a Finnish electronic musician, video game composer and graphic artist. His most recent project is with Remedy Entertainment as an animator, sound designer and graphic artist. Prior to working with Remedy, Hajba has been credited on games developed by 3D Realms, PopCap Games, Introversion Software Limited, Epic Games, and Housemarque.

<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>Zuma</i> (video game) Video game

Zuma is a 2003 tile-matching puzzle video game developed by Oberon Media and published by PopCap Games. It was released for a number of platforms, including PDAs, mobile phones, and the iPod.

<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>Peggle Nights</i> 2008 video game

Peggle Nights is a Windows, Mac OS X and Microsoft Xbox Live Arcade downloadable game from PopCap Games. Upon its release, PopCap marketed the game as a "follow-up" to Peggle, although an actual sequel to the 2007 PC Game was released in 2013. The gameplay between Peggle and Peggle Nights has remained largely unchanged, with each stage featuring a colorful 2D background filled with different colored "pegs". The objective in each level is to clear all of the orange pegs by hitting them with a ball shot from the top of the screen. New to this version are 60 new levels, 60 additional challenges, the introduction of the new Peggle Master Marina the Electric Squid, and the addition of an "Aced" score for each level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King (company)</span> Video game developer

King.com Limited, trading as King and also known as King Digital Entertainment, is a Maltese video game developer and publisher based in St. Julian's, Malta that specialises in social games. King gained prominence after releasing the cross-platform title Candy Crush Saga in 2012, considered one of the most financially successful games utilising the freemium model. King was acquired by Activision Blizzard in February 2016 for US$5.9 billion, and operates as its own entity within that company. King is led by Riccardo Zacconi, who has served in the role of chief executive officer since co-founding the company in 2003. Gerhard Florin took over Melvyn Morris's role as chairman in November 2014. As of 2017, King employs 2,000 people.

<i>Bejeweled Twist</i> 2008 puzzle video game

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.

<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>Shariki</i> 1994 video game

Shariki is a puzzle video game written in 1994 for MS-DOS by Russian developer Eugene Alemzhin. The goal of the game is to gain progressively higher scores by matching three or more balls of the same color in a line, by swapping adjacent balls. Each swap must result in a match. Matched balls are then removed, and new ones drop from the top to fill the gaps. The game is over when no more matches are possible in the game field.

<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.

<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.

<i>Candy Crush Saga</i> 2012 video game

Candy Crush Saga is a free-to-play tile-matching video game released by King on April 12, 2012, originally for Facebook; other versions for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Windows 10 followed. It is a variation of their browser game Candy Crush.

<i>Bejeweled Stars</i> 2015 video game

Bejeweled Stars is a tile match-3 game developed by PopCap Games and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the third spin-off title in the Bejeweled series and the first to debut on smart devices. The game was soft-launched in Canada in December 2015, and was released worldwide on May 10, 2016.

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.

Blue Wizard Digital is a Canadian video game development studio and game publisher founded in 2014 by Jason Kapalka, one of the founders of PopCap Games and an early pioneer in the mobile casual gaming space. It is based in the Comox Valley, British Columbia, and is the only video game studio currently headquartered in Comox, as The Long Dark studio Hinterland is now based in Vancouver.

References

  1. ↑ "Bejeweled® Deluxe Readme". Archived from the original on 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  2. ↑ Ward, Mark (2008-03-18). "Casual games make a serious impact". BBC News. BBC. Archived from the original on 21 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  3. ↑ Alexander, Leigh (February 10, 2010). "Bejeweled Sales Hit 50 Million". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on September 7, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  4. ↑ @worldwinner (September 9, 2020). "Let's celebrate! Bejeweled 2 is now Bejeweled Champions! Check out the new version on worldwinner.com AND in the WorldWinner app! ✨🎉 go.worldwinner.com/LEaPXlY8D9 TODAY: Enjoy 10X Rewards Points in Bejeweled Champions cash tournaments until midnight ET" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2020-09-09. Retrieved 2020-12-14– via Twitter.
  5. ↑ Kapalka, Jason (March 4, 2011). "Classic Game Postmortem - Bejeweled" (video). youtube.com. Game Developers Conference.
  6. ↑ Hester, Larry (October 21, 2013). "Inside Bejeweled: An Interview with Executive Producer Heather Hazen". Complex. Archived from the original on October 26, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2023. When Brian Fiete, Jason Kapalka and John Vechey of PopCap came across a Russian match-three game called Shariki (or The Colors Game), it inspired them to create a browser-based game named Diamond Mine which later evolved into the glittery, ball of addiction we now know as Bejeweled.
  7. ↑ Edwards, Jim (February 18, 2014). "Here's The History Of The Game That Was Copied To Create Candy Crush Saga". BusinessInsider.com. Retrieved August 15, 2023. But even Bejeweled isn't the original match-three game. That honor probably belongs to a Russian computer game from the early 1990s called Shariki
  8. ↑ "Museum of the Schariki game" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
  9. 1 2 3 Chalk, Andy (September 22, 2008). "Bejeweled Comes To World Of Warcraft". The Escapist . Archived from the original on March 20, 2021.
  10. ↑ Cavalli, Earnest (September 19, 2008). "Bejeweled, Warcraft Combine to Form World's Most Addictive Game". Wired . Condé Nast. Archived from the original on June 16, 2014.
  11. ↑ Schramm, Mike (September 20, 2008). "WoW Insider's preview of PopCap Games' Bejeweled addon". WoW Insider . AOL. Archived from the original on December 17, 2010.
  12. ↑ Dumitrescu, Andrei (September 22, 2008). "Bejeweled to Appear as Minigame in World of Warcraft". Softpedia . SoftNews NET SRL. Archived from the original on September 24, 2008.
  13. ↑ North, Dale (September 22, 2008). "Unholy unity: Bejeweled added to World of Warcraft". Destructoid . Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on August 19, 2009.
  14. 1 2 Welsh, Oli (September 22, 2008). "Bejeweled add-on coming to WOW". Eurogamer . Gamer Network. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012.
  15. ↑ T. Walsh (2014). "Candy Crush is NP-Hard". arXiv: 1403.1911 [cs.CC].
  16. ↑ Gualà, L.; Leucci, S.; Natale, E. (August 2014). "Bejeweled, Candy Crush and other match-three games are (NP-)hard". 2014 IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games. pp. 1–8. arXiv: 1403.5830 . doi:10.1109/CIG.2014.6932866. ISBN   978-1-4799-3547-5. S2CID   21294688. Archived from the original on 2021-10-05.
  17. ↑ Edwards, Jim (2013-09-11). "The Definitive, Illustrated History of the Most Underrated Game Ever". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2017-03-13. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  18. ↑ "Bejeweled, Minecraft among games inducted into hall of fame | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
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.