"Colors must fit together as pieces in a puzzle or cogs in a wheel."
~ Hans Hofmann
When Nick and I were in Singapore a few years ago, I discovered Bejeweled Blitz, a highly-addictive puzzle game that you can play for free on your computer, on Facebook, that of course also has an inexpensive iPhone version so you can play anywhere, anytime. Funnily enough, because we were in Singapore for Nick's work, although I had a laptop, I didn't have a mouse, which hindered my ability to play the game, which caused me to purchase the app.
Fast forward to 2011. While I still liked the game, I didn't play it as much. There were several updates to it and neat additions, and though I still played, I didn't play that often. I had gotten my brother into the game in 2010 or so, and he was regularly scoring higher than I was (he and my friends Maddie and Alesa are the absolute dominators of that game!). Also, "Words With Friends" (a version of Scrabble) came out. Between WWF, crazy work at the store, and Nick's INDT project, I lost my enthusiasm for Bejeweled, even though I really like puzzle games. Then late last year, The Sims came out for the iPhone! I used to LOVE The Sims game on the computer, and though it was a serious time-sucker, I just had to download it. I played that game as I always had on the computer, building my houses, neighborhood, town buildings, etc., but I kept thinking about the joke about Sims-crazed people whose Sims had great careers, relationships, and hygiene statuses, while the computer player hadn't seen the sun or taken a shower in days. And then I started INDT 2012. I decided The Sims had to go. I also quit "rematching" in Words With Friends. With those two changes, I'd have plenty more time (or at least, less excuses to be wasting it!). But now what kind of game could I play really quickly when I just needed a break? Aha! Bejeweled! My old friend.
I started playing again, and to my surprise, I had gotten better. Not heaps better, but noticeably so. That was cool. One of the additions to the newer versions was a "Daily Spin" where you could get coins to later cash in for "Boosts", like "extra time" or "mystery gem" that could help you score higher in the game. They also added special "Rare Gems" that were really highly priced, that gave you super bonuses. All those extras are really cool when you're trying to get a high score. Lately though, since as I said I feel like I've been getting better at the game, I've decided to not use Boosts or special gems for the most part, just to try to keep getting better.
Tonight, I decided to have a quick game before dinner - of course, it would have been way cooler if I had video of the game being played, but I didn't know this magical event was going to happen! It didn't feel too different from any other game - except that for some reason, I was seeing the combos easily and I was relaxed (sometimes I go mad trying to make combos as quickly as possible - kind of like how everything goes wrong and you can't even put your coat on correctly when you're in a rush to get out the door!). I got the "Blazing Speed" bonus twice during the game (which boosts your points every time you make a match), but I've done that a few times before, so that wasn't a huge thing - I just thought, "cool!" ... but then when the game ended, I looked at my score ... 538,600! Holy Guacamole! If you play the game, note I was so surprised, it took me a second to register and get the picture snapped - I got it only after all my multipliers had been cashed into coins (if you don't play the game, I'm sorry. We're total Bejeweled dweebs.). Just in time!
I even shared it on Facebook. Ha ha ha!
Anyway, this was super fun. I couldn't believe it. Over 500,000, unassisted! Again, I don't think there will ever be a day when someone like one of the Bejeweled masters I mentioned above won't be able to just decide to play on a whim and blow my score out of the water (ha ha ha!), but it's fun to see your name on the leader board and, even if it's only for a little while, at the top spot. And I hit my own personal record! Awesome!
Related Links:
Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook
Bejeweled Blitz for iPhone
No comments:
Post a Comment