Pardon the dust!
This page includes some jargon that hasn't been added to the site's glossary yet. I'll be around to fix this later, but sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime.

Review: Bejeweled 3

At a Glance

ESRB Rating: E - Everyone
My Rating: Everyone
Genre: Match 3
License: Commercial
Fun-O-Meter:
Release Year: 2010
Review Published On: August 27th, 2016
Played on: Martha

Available for:

MacOS
Windows

Available from:

Origin
Steam

Areas of Concern:
  • Nothing of note


How to Save and Pause:

Each player has their progress recorded in their own profile. Beyond this, Classic Mode saves your game whenever you quit (just like the original Bejeweled), and Quest mode saves your progress whenever you complete one of its challenges.

Time needed per session:

A minimum of about 10 minutes is enough for short game sessions, though it's easy to play for much longer thanks to the additional modes.

Does this game pose issues for Christian players?

No - this is a great game for Christians
Not only is there no offensive content to worry about, this is clearly the best iteration of the series so far.

Screenshots

[view screenshot]
Now gems go along with you

[view screenshot]
The Quest mode offers many new challenges

[view screenshot]
Welcome to my glittering parlor...



Game Overview

This is the most recent entry in the original Bejeweled series, and the core mechanics are still largely unchanged. To clear gems from the grid, you swap them around with an adjacent gem so that a column or row contains a group of three or more gems of the same type. Matching more than three gems at once earns you a powerup that will make clearing even more gems easier.

That mechanic is simple enough on its own, but to make things interesting there are several different game modes, each of which adds its own rules and challenges. Four of these modes will be available when you first start playing, allowing you to get a feel for the new changes before diving into the more difficult modes that you can unlock. With the exception of Classic and Zen modes, the various playstyles force you to prioritize matching certain gems or certain areas of the grid.

With eight different ways to play, this is clearly a game any Match 3 fan should try.

Points of Interest

The best of the best

Of the three games in the main Bejeweled series, this is the best one. With no compatibility issues, eight engaging modes of play and even achievements to earn, this is going to keep a fan of Match 3 games busy for a while.

Even with the new modes, picking it up is easy

While there are eight different ways to play, things are still simple as the basic gameplay hasn't changed. New players can learn how to play within a few moments, regardless of the mode they select.

Level transitions are groovier than ever

In Bejeweled 2 the level transitions became more refined, with a colorful wormhole effect transferring you from grid to grid. In Bejeweled 3 this has been improved a little, with some of the gems from your current grid getting sucked into the wormhole and riding to the next grid with you.

Concerns and Issues

Arachnophobes, beware!

One of the hidden game modes is called "Butterflies". While this sounds cute, it's actually about trying to keep gemstone butterflies from being caught by a gemstone spider. The spider lurks at the top of the grid, and you need to free the butterflies by matching them with similar gems before they fly into the spider's clutches.

Minor magic

In the Quest game mode, there are a few levels that involve alchemy to a small degree. Specifically, it's just explaining the goal of the level, which is to turn all parts of the grid's background into gold by swapping the gems. This is almost too trivial to consider as part of the rating, but it's still there.