Bejeweled Blitz – Intro
Bejeweled Blitz is one of the most popular games on Facebook. Currently, over 8.5 million users play it monthly. The purpose of the game is to score as many points as possible – in the time frame of one minute. This is a special version of the original Bejeweled by PopCap. As with most PopCap games, Bejeweled Blitz is tons of fun, full of effects, colors and options, and mainly – very addictive. If you have been playing Bejeweled Blitz for a while now, and want to better your game, here’s a few tips and tricks on how to get that high-score. This post isn’t for those “playing just for fun” – it’s a strategy guide for scoring 300K points and more, and being the first among your Facebook friends.
My personal all-time best score on Bejeweled Blitz is 476,950 and here’s the screenshot to prove it (click to enlarge). How did I do it? A bit of luck, a bit of patience and some important things to remember:
Bejeweled Blitz – The 10 Seconds Rule
The most important gem on the game is the multiplier gem. Without it, you can’t get really high scores. You have to reach a multiplier of 4 for a decent game, and a multiplier of 6-7 or more for a great game. This means your game centers around the multipliers. And here’s the simple rule – if you don’t get the first multiplier in the first 10 seconds of the game – it’s not going to be a good game. So, abort and restart. Basically, since you have only 60 seconds in the game, you have to nail a multiplier every 10 seconds or less. It won’t happen every game, and that’s why you don’t need to spend time on games that are doomed to be low-scoring from the get go. You can continue playing if you need the practice – but otherwise, there’s no reason to waste time on mediocre games.
Multiplier gems appear when you make 12 gems or more disappear in one swipe. This can happen through chain reactions or multiple explosions of fire gems. If the board is weak, and you are not getting a lot of fire gems or chain reactions, you need to consider restarting the game. When a multiplier appears – do everything you can to get it. It’s your top priority.
Work Fast
This might seem obvious, but what you are really aiming here is Blazing Speed. This mode is not easy to achieve, but once you reach it, every move you make created explosions and destroys many gems. If you are already in a multiplier of 5-6 – it’s a great score boost.
Play at the Bottom
Chain reactions are more likely to happen if you work at the bottom of the screen. Concentrate your attention there, and go to the top of the screen only when you don’t have any more options at the bottom. A board that has no bottom moves right from the start is likely to produce a mediocre game – so skip it and restart.
Use Hints
Even skilled players, playing regular 250K games, night find themselves stuck for a few seconds. Since you don’t have much time on Bejeweled, getting stuck is a bad idea. If you don’t find your next move real quick, get a hint. It’ll get you going again and save you a few distracting seconds of searching for the next move. Of course, if all you do is get hints, this might not be the best of games, and you might wanna restart.
Kill the Sounds
There’s a bit of a debate about this, and of course each player has their own taste and preferences. Should you turn off the sound on Bejeweled? I say YES – I scored my best games while playing on mute, or listening to music or the TV. It’s good not to hear the annoying sound of the last 15 seconds, and avoid the distracting sounds of the gems blowing up and the narrator telling you how SPECTACULAR you are.
Kill the Firegems
Don’t wait or save the bonus gems. The second you get a chance – blow them up. If there are few firegems grouped together, it’s even more important to destroy them, because they can give you a multiplier.
Don’t Wait for the Gems
This is a nice feature in Facebook’s Bejeweled – you don’t have to wait for your move to finish, in order to start the next swipe. So, don’t wait for the gems and just keep swiping, as fast as you can. Remember – work mainly at the bottom of the screen, get the multipliers and try to achieve Blazing Speed.
Don’t Wait for the Go
You can actually start playing before the announcer says “GO”. Try it out – it gives you a few more seconds of game time.
Good Luck!
Also, the Last Hurrah is a great way to score a gazillion points if you haven’t been playing 100% effectively. My best game recently included about 100K points that happened after my minute was over.
But that only works if your game was so horrible you were unable to use the firegems/multipliers on time, so one should never count on this as a solution for anything.