About

Bejeweled is the match-three puzzle game that defined a genre. A grid of colored gems fills the screen; you swap adjacent gems to create rows or columns of three or more matching colors, which then disappear and are replaced by falling gems from above. Chain reactions — cascades where falling gems create new matches automatically — are deeply satisfying.

The genius of Bejeweled is its accessibility combined with emergent depth. Anyone can make a match in seconds, but scoring efficiently requires planning several moves ahead and setting up cascades rather than taking obvious moves. Special gems formed by matching four or five in a row add explosive power-ups.

Bejeweled is perfect for a 5–10 minute break. Each game is self-paced, visually soothing, and ends naturally when no moves remain.

How to Play

• Click a gem, then click an adjacent gem to swap their positions.
• Swaps are only valid if they create a match of 3 or more same-colored gems.
• Matched gems disappear; gems above fall down and new ones fill from the top.
• Match 4 for a Power Gem (clears a row/column); match 5 for a Hyper Cube (clears all of one color).
• The game ends when no valid swaps remain.

Tips

• Look at the bottom of the board first — lower matches cause more cascades.
• Set up L- and T-shaped matches to create special gems.
• Don't rush — Bejeweled Classic has no timer, so plan each move.

History

Bejeweled was developed by PopCap Games and released in 2001, based on an earlier web game called Diamond Mine. It became one of the most successful casual games ever made, with over 150 million copies sold across all platforms. It spawned Bejeweled 2, Bejeweled 3, and Bejeweled Blitz, and directly inspired the match-three mobile genre that produced Candy Crush Saga. PopCap was acquired by EA in 2011 for $750 million, largely on the strength of Bejeweled's franchise value.