Are Bejeweled Blitz High Score Notifications High Enough?

Thu, Dec 10, 2009

Bejeweled Blitz, Features, Social

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439,600

That’s my high score this week in Bejeweled Blitz, the speedy social match-3 game from PopCap. That’s a pretty hot high score, and so I published the Star Medal notification to alert my Facebook friends of this puzzle gaming success…

bejeweled-blitz_high-score-notification

Herein lies my qualm: If players are regularly scoring upwards of 300,000 in the game, wouldn’t it make since for the Star Medals in Bejeweled Blitz to go high enough to accomodate even its most skilled fans? There are several increments: 50k, 75k, 100k, 125k, 150k, 175k, 200k, 225k and the top Star Medal shows 250k. Even if you score 450,000 you can only get a 250k medal with your full score in tiny text below.

What’s up with that?

Earlier this fall, PopCap gave the game an overhaul with several changes to the Facebook phenom: a new, more intimidating intro countdown, new gameplay and bonus mechanics/animations, revised audio and graphical updates  all around. Key point here is that the gameplay and bonus updates, although fairly small, enabled players to maneuver gems more quickly, and thus earn more points and snag higher scores than ever before.

Off-hand, I’d say average high weekly scores in Bejeweled Blitz used to be in the 200,000 to low 300,000 range, but since PopCap released the new version, high scores, on my leaderboard, are consistently upwards of 400,000 – I’m pretty sure some of my most impressive friends have even broken 500,000, but I can’t swear by it (not this week anyway).

Social Puzzler

Bejeweled Blitz is honestly one of my favorite games, period. The match-three genre is also one of the most widely popular in casual gaming, and Blitz puts a fast, friendly spin on things. It speeds up the gameplay and shrinks sessions into quick 1-minute chunks, perfect for busy social networkers. Since the game is on the Facebook platform, your leaderboards only feature folks you already know – your Facebook friends. For most people, that’s a crowd of ~500 potential competitors.

Not that Blitz is alone here, this is the norm in social gaming – heck, it’s what makes a game social. Still, the Bejeweled Blitz leaderboards are a bit different, in that scores reset weekly (on Tuesday) – so everyone starts tabula rasa and has to score big again to stay on top. The reset is huge for replayability, and ensures fresh competition every week.

bejeweledblitz_title

All you need is Blitz

All that, and PopCap recently put Bejeweled Blitz on the iPhone, as a free update to the hugely successful Bejeweled 2 app ($2.99 on the App Store). You can play on your iPhone (or iPod Touch), and your high scores and leaderboards are automatically synced with Facebook. iPhone players can post Facebook notifications from their iPhone just like the Web.

In short, Bejewled Blitz is awesome and beyond, but please PopCap, make the Star Medals go higher. If I can score over 400,000 (once in a blue moon), then I want a medal to shout about it!

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Related posts:

  1. Bejeweled Blitz Goes Mobile with Facebook Connect
  2. Bejeweled Blitz Now Available as Stand-Alone PC Game
  3. Bejeweled Blitz Apologizes for Downtime with 50% Off Bejeweled 2
  4. Purchase Bejeweled Blitz, Get a Free Strategy Guide
  5. Download Bejeweled Blitz, Receive Free Coins
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  • http://twitter.com/Frox Fernando // Nando

    Not as skilled xD, but I have one question … a little bit off topic.
    Can you only submit your score once on yours/friends' wall?

    I thought I had a good score and posted it, 15min later I managed to get a higher score but I didn't get to see the pop up to submit my score on the wall…
    The (better) score has been synced with the scoreboard though.

    Not that it is a very important matter, but still ;p

  • http://www.friskymongoose.com/ Kate Hancock

    Good question – think I can help! Basically, the game prompts you to send a notification *only* when you earn a new Star Medal.

    For example if your first score were 155,000 then you earned (& posted) a 150k Star Medal. So if your next high score were 166,000 then you wouldn't get a pop-up because you didn't earn a *new* Star Medal. However, if your next score were 177,000 then you should get a pop-up for the 175k Star Medal.

    But you can still post a score to your wall even if you didn't earn a new Star Medal. After you finish a game, there is a button on the left side of your screen (underneath your Score and Coins earned) that says “Post Medal”. You can use that button to publish a Bejeweled Blitz score to your Facebook wall anytime, regardless of whether or not you earned a new Star Medal and got a notification pop-up reminder.

    What do you think about the game's new look and Coin system??

  • Jeanie

    Is there a way to post your score from your iPod once your game is over?! I scored my highest score at 317,200 and it didn't give me the option to post it! I am in competition with a friend who got a 325,050 using no boosts so I want to show that I did this score with no boosts, lol. Silly, I know, lol. Thanks!

  • http://www.friskymongoose.com/ Kate Hancock

    After you finish a game, there is a button on the left side of your screen (underneath your Score and Coins earned) that says “Post Medal”. You can use that button to publish a Bejeweled Blitz score to your Facebook wall anytime, regardless of whether or not you earned a new Star Medal and got a notification pop-up reminder.

  • Jeanie

    My iPod Touch does not have that button. Actually, my iPod Touch version is Bejeweled Blitz 2….so it doesn't yet have an option for coins.

  • http://www.friskymongoose.com/ Kate Hancock

    Sorry about that – the button on the iPhone / iPod Touch version (to publish your score) is actually kind of hidden… After you finish a game and you're on the leaderboard screen, you'll see “New High Score” at the top left (with your score underneath), and next to that, at the top right, is a small circular button that shows which Star Medal you earned. Click that and you can publish any score to your Facebook feed.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000083935061 Gia Tu Nguyen

    this week i was take 1,065,750 score, my leader board have 4 persons more than > 1 milion score