SYDNEY, Australia – November 11, 2008 — PopCap Games, the leading developer and
publisher of casual games, has introduced an irresistible innovation in its flagship
Bejeweled® franchise. Bejeweled Twist™, the first new Bejeweled title in almost four
years, puts a completely new spin on the top-selling puzzle game that PopCap pioneered
eight years ago. Featuring a revolutionary new style of play and production values
unrivalled by any other casual game, Bejeweled Twist will be distributed by Mindscape,
a leading Australian consumer software publisher and distributor, and due to hit retail
shelves in Australia in December 2008.
Bejeweled is the most popular casual game franchise of the 21st century, with more than
350 million copies downloaded and over 25 million units sold. And Bejeweled Twist is
already winning over fans of the original Bejeweled and Bejeweled 2: “There’s no doubt
this is the world’s greatest casual video game,” declared Cindy Robertson, who wrote,
published and sells a strategy guide for Bejeweled 2 under the pen name Julia Gemstone.
“PopCap has done it again…Bejeweled Twist provides thousands of hours of fun for
anyone. If Bejeweled is hot chocolate, Bejeweled Twist is a double mocha latte!”
“It took considerably more time, more money and more people than the original
Bejeweled, but we feel it was worth every ounce of that effort,” said Jason Kapalka, chief
creative officer and co-founder of PopCap, and co-creator of all three Bejeweled titles.
“We promised ourselves we’d come up with something really new for ‘the next
Bejeweled’ and we must have gone through at least a hundred ideas before settling on
the ‘twist mechanic’ in the new game.”
Bejeweled Twist removes the barriers of traditional match-3 games. Instead of swapping
adjacent jewels to make a set, players rotate an entire 2×2 block of gems clockwise in an
effort to create a line of three or more gems of the same type. Further, in Bejeweled Twist
players don’t have to make a match with every move – instead they can freely rotate
gems anywhere on the board, allowing far greater liberty of movement and vastly
increased strategic freedom to plan combinations, cascades and chains.
New Features of Bejeweled Twist:
Virtually every aspect of Bejeweled Twist is new and different from the previous
iterations of Bejeweled, including:
• Stunning visual and audio effects – the highest production values – highdefinition
imagery, subtle audio effects and a custom-composed soundtrack
• Endless rewards – instant replays, bonus multipliers, stats and rankings
• Deep play – the more you play, the more you’ll discover new ways to play
• All-new elements – new gem types, obstacles, challenges, and modes of play
New Special Gems:
• Flame gems are created by matching four gems of the same kind at once. When
matched with like-coloured gems, these fiery jewels explode.
• Lightning gems are created by matching five gems of the same kind. When
matched, they fire bolts of explosive destruction in four directions at once.
• Fruit gems are rare but powerful gems that can only be created by making lots of
consecutive matches to max out the chain meter. When the chain meter reaches its
zenith, one gem on the grid is transformed into a special Fruit gem, which, when
matched, vaporizes all like-coloured gems, among other powerful effects.
New Obstacles:
• Bomb gems: These appear in later stages of the game and count down with every
move you make. Eliminate them via matches or adjacent explosions from Flame
or Lightning gems before they reach zero; if you don’t, only the last-minute
disarm spinner can save you.
• Locked Gems: Locked gems can still be matched, but they can’t be moved.
Break free of them with like-colour matches and special gems.
• Coal: These inert rocks can hamper your ability to match gems, but they deliver a
sparkly surprise when you burst them open with Flame or Lightning gems!
PopCap Games Launches Bejeweled Twist – p.3
Four Game Modes:
Classic and Zen is available from the start – unlock the other modes as you progress:
• Classic: The essential version of the game, Classic features Bomb gems that tick
down to a deadly detonation. You need to clear them before they hit zero!
• Zen: More a relaxation exercise than a puzzle. Explore dozens of alien worlds as
you hone your gem-matching skills without the pressure of obstacles or time.
• Blitz: This timed mode is perfect for both hardcore arcade players and those who
only have a few minutes to spare.
• Challenge: Challenge mode offers a dozen separate puzzle worlds, each with
seven levels of difficulty and a final infinite stage. For the serious problem-solver.
From PCs and Macs, PlayStation and Xbox consoles to mobile phones, PDAs, iPods and
iPhones, Bejeweled is available for more than a dozen devices and platforms. More than
350 million copies of Bejeweled/Bejeweled 2 have been downloaded from the Web,
accounting for nearly a third of the 1 billion-plus downloads of all PopCap® titles. Tens
of millions of copies of Bejeweled have been installed on mobile phones worldwide, and
more than 25 million units of the game have been sold across all platforms, amounting to
over $300 million in consumer spending over the history of the game. The Bejeweled
franchise has been enjoyed for more than 6 billion hours by consumers worldwide.
Bejeweled Twist™ will be available for the PC in Australia in December 2008 retailing
for SRP of $19.95 inc GST.