Bejeweled Twist & Popcap Day

Last Thursday I had the extreme pleasure of visiting the Popcap Games offices - they have really come a long way!  I remember checking them out a few years ago when they had offices on one floor of their building, and now they have expanded to three floors.  It's great to see them reaping the rewards of the fine work they do.

I was met by QA lead Michael Guillory, and the office mascot Noni the Dachshund.  We were quickly joined by Popcap co-founder Brian Fiete (and one of the game's designers), lead programmer Kurt Pfeifer and programmer Chris Hargrove.  It was pretty clear early on that these guys were Twist fanatics - it's a true testament to a game's addictability when the guys who have done nothing but work on a game for the past eighteen months still play the it with such fervor.

The game was released on October 27th, and there's some excellent reviews out there.  Check out Destructoid's review, they summed it up perfectly: "Bejeweled Twist [is] a solid, mature puzzle game that is quite a bit deeper than it first appears."  At its heart, the game remains true to its Bejeweled roots, as it's basically about identifying color patterns that lead to matches.  In Twist, however, the designers made a simple change: instead of swapping two jewels in an attempt to match three or more of a single color (and swapping them back if no match is made), players rotate four gems.  This simple change had many ripple effects throughout the game, the largest of which is that most of the patterns that worked for you in past versions just won't cut it here.  Also, since your gems don't rotate back if you don't make a match, you can use a couple of moves to set up matches - thus spelling the doom of the "no more moves" game ending. 

The game did get a bit harder with these new changes, though the designers made sure to add a tutorial and several hint mechanics in the first stage of the game to help the new player acclimate.  There's also the Zen mode, where it is impossible to lose.  Aside from being a fun way to play, it also serves as a low-stress training ground for the other play modes.

Speaking of play modes, Twist covers it all: there's Blitz mode (basically time attack), and challenge mode, where you must complete a mission to pass the level.  Classic mode does away with the timer, adding bomb gems instead.  These gems are inserted randomly and appear with a countdown number on them.  When the number reaches zero, you spin on the wheel of death and unless you spin well, your game ends.  I really liked this change in particular - the timer in bejeweled 2 was just too stressful.  The bomb gems keep the timer element, but it's not in your face from move one.  Much of the content is hidden until you find it during games - things like coal, fruit gems and combo bonuses are buried in the game for you to find, like pulling a fiver out of your jeans when sorting laundry. 

Being a long time Bejeweled player, I was expecting more of the same, and I was pleasantly surprised.  They took a familiar game and gave it a...I don't want to say it but they gave it a twist *shudder*.  Overall, I'd say that while the game is harder than its predecessors, it is much more strategic - if this sounds good to you, download the trial and try it out yourself!

On my way out, I took a tour of the offices - like most game companies, it looks like a really cool place to work!  Their game room (well, the one I saw, since there are two) is nothing short of amazing, with a rock band setup, mame cabinet and lots of couch space for relaxation.  It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!

(Thanks to Kurt, Brian, Chris and Michael for taking time out of your day to show me the game - Hans, it's always good to see you man!)

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