Bejeweled Blitz Tips and Strategy

Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook is one of the most addictive games you will ever play. This game crams all the fasted paced puzzle action of Bejeweled into one sweet minute of gem matching. While the principles of Bejeweled Blitz are the same as for the original game, the time constraints and some interesting twists adds some new strategy elements. In this short guide you will find some of the best Bejeweled Blitz strategies for getting really high scores. While being very good at Bejeweled Blitz is important as a way to dominate your Facebook friends, it's also actually possible to make money playing Bejeweled Blitz online.

First and foremost, playing Bejeweled Blitz is all about speed. With the very little time you have available it is crucial that you make the most out of it. This means making matches as fast as you can, don't spend time trying to find the best possible move. If you see a move make it, and move on to the next one as soon as possible. That said, there will often be times when you have the choice of different moves you can make, in these situations always make a horizontal match rather than a vertical match, and match gems as far down on the board as you can. The more gems you have above the match you are making the more likely you are to create a cascade of matches. Likewise, a horizontal match creates more cascades than a vertical match.

Cascades are important as they are one of the best ways to create power gems. A power gem will explode and take out all the surrounding blocks when it is matched. Not only does this give more point in itself, but it puts you well on the way to creating a multiplier gem. Multiplier gems are the keys to high scoring games in Bejeweled Blitz and you should focus on creating and matching as many multipliers as you can. Multipliers are created when a move causes 12 or more gems to be removed from the board. In older versions of the game a multiplier could only be created every 10 seconds limiting their usefulness, in the newest version on Facebook however there is no limitations on how many can be created. If you create a cascade withing 10 seconds of creating a multiplier gem you will have to remove more than the normal 12 gems to get a new multiplier however. With huge cascades it's possible to create two and even three multiplier gems in one move. As soon as a multiplier is created, make sure to match it as fast as you can. The game is designed to provide a match for multiplier gem within three moves of it being created, so focus on getting the bonus multiplier matched early.

Another incentive to play the game fast is the speed bonus. Once you make three matches in less than 2 seconds a cumulative speed bonus is added. The bonus starts out at 200 points and tops out at 1000. These points are added to every match that is made. The higher this bonus gets the longer you have to make the next match before the bonus resets. You never have very much time though, so keep matching gems fast to keep this bonus maxed out as long as you can. The current bonus multiplier applies to the speed bonus as well, which explains why a high multiplier is essential for the really high scores. With a 5x multiplier and a maxed out speed bonus you'll get an additional 5000 points for every regular match you make. With power blocks and hyper cubes the bonuses are even greater.

The important power gems are created by matching 4 gems together. These matches can frequently be made in cascades. If you manage to create a power gem, explode it as soon as you can unless you see a way to make another power gem next to it. Setting off a chain reaction of power gems will always get you a multiplier gem, the real objective in the game.

If you match 5 gems a hyper cube is created. A hyper cube can be matched with any single gem surrounding it and it will remove all gems on the board of the same color. These gems are best left alone until you've worked up your multiplier bonus, unless you know that matching it to a gem will create a multiplier gem.

The last special gem that can be created is a star gem. This gem is created by matching 5 gems in either an L shape or a T shape. When this gem is matched it will remove all gems in a horizontal and vertical line from itself. This will always create a multiplier gem so if you manage to create one of these star gems, make sure to use it as quickly as you can.

Advanced Tips

Bejeweled Blitz has added some other subtle changes that can be exploited for massive points. First of all, it is now possible to move gems while other gems are exploding. So, when creating a match in one area of the board, quickly move to another area and make a match there. Better yet, while gems are exploding, the timer is not counting down. The matches you make while the game is removing gems in another area are made for 'free'. Taking advantage of this can not only extend the game beyond the one minute you have available, but it also creates an opportunity to activate a game mode that will drive your score skywards.

After having made 25 consecutive matches in less than 30 seconds the game goes into a hyper state where every match is treated as matching a power gem and all scores are tripled. If you activate this mode with a maxed out speed bonus and a high multiplier you will score some massive points. In f act, this game mode is the secret to seeing scores above 500 000 in Bejeweled Blitz. As you start to string together many moves you will notice that the gems starts moving into place faster and faster. At this point, keep making matches as fast as you can, especially while the game is clearing cascades just keep matching. Eventually the background will turn a bright orange and you will notice all your matches blowing up like power gems. This mode is perfect for setting of any hyper cubes you might have left sitting around for the end of the game.

Finally, the latest version of Bejeweled Blitz introduces the Last Hurrah. This mode makes sure that any special gems you didn't use during the game are set off after the time expires. This mode is the reason why you know longer need to stress about using your hyper cubes. If you leave them until the end of the game they will still be set off and your points will be counted. The same goes for multiplier gems and power blocks of course, but you generally want to use these gems as soon as you can and not wait for the end of the game.

These are some of the best strategies for improving your Bejeweled Blitz score. Most of these techniques work of the same basic skill, seeing matches all over the board quickly. As you are playing, focus on moving your attention around the board constantly and make matches in different areas of the board. The more you play the game and keep this in mind, the easier it will get to see all the different opportunities quickly. And last but certainly not least, have fun with this highly addictive game!