A puzzle game benchmark, as addictive as ever and perfect for short sessions or endless evenings. The new bits are subtle but welcome. A safe bet for unwinding.
Your verdict
Category
Puzzle1 player3+
Description
Bejeweled 3 puzzle game on Xbox 360.
Bejeweled 3 review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
3/5
Music
★★★★★
"Memorable"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
The gems are treated as real stones: cut facets, an internal glint that moves with the cursor, and a burst of white light at every match, calibrated to stay readable on a television screen. Each mode also has its own painted backdrop, glacier, mine or starry sky, a choice that avoids the fatigue of a single board repeated for hours.
A matching puzzle from PopCap, Bejeweled 3 perfects the match three concept where you swap gems to form combinations and trigger ever more spectacular cascades. The variety of modes, from timed challenge to endless relaxation, and the absolute polish of the whole make it a fiercely addictive puzzle, still perfectly playable. The simplicity of the principle reserves it for genre fans. A match three classic for fans of accessible puzzling and soothing scoring.