I was just playing the new beta version of the Bejeweled Blitz game on Facebook - with Boost and Coins. They have some new improvements coming out, so I thought I would review them and provide some more tips and tricks.
How it works is, you collect points to earn boosts. Boosts are like power ups. Here are the boosts:
Detonate - 2500 coins: Detonates all special gems on the board. You can use it once per game for 3 games. If you don't use it, it gets wasted, so use it.
Scramble - 3500 coins: Scrambles all gems on the board. You can use it twice per game.
+5 Seconds - 5000 coins: Adds 5 seconds to the end of the game.
Mystery Gem - 6000 coins: Puts a random gem on the board at the beginning of the game.
Free Multiplier - 7500 coins: Puts a multiplier gem on the board at the beginning of the game.
When coins appear, it seems that they're each worth 100 points. If you match gems to get them off the board or if they remain at the end of the game, they are each worth 100 points. All the coins are yellow gems - not all yellow gems are coins though.
I'm not exactly sure how you gain points. I can't find documentation about it yet and I've tried playing to figure it out but I'm not sure. It seems to be based on how many gems you clear with one gem swap. I'm not sure how many though.
The Bejeweled Blitz boost I like the most, so far, is Detonate. The Free Multiplier is nice and sometimes the Mystery Gem is a power gem but not all the time. The added 5 seconds is nice, too. Scramble seems kind of useless to me. Scramble is something you almost want to avoid but if you do get one of those games where you're stuck playing at the top, then it could be nice but that doesn't happen enough where you'd want to spend coins on it. I think spending coins on Detonate is the best Bejeweled Boost because you can always use it and it's the lowest cost.
First, decide which boost you want to use. The boosts that are available to you will be lit up:
Second, purchase the boost(s) you want with your available balance of coins:
Third, with some boosts, there will be a small button on the bottom left of the game board:
How to Use the Scrambler Boost
First, purchase the boost:
Second, just like the Detonate Boost, there is an icon for the Scrambler boost but it's on the lower right hand side of the game board:
-Tony
03-02-10 - The Price of Boosts
I see the tough economic times are hitting the Bejeweled Blitz world as well. The Detonate boost is now 3,000 coins (was 2,500). Scrambler is now 4,000 coins (was 3,500). The +5 Seconds boost came down and is now 4,500 coins (was 5,000).
The design of the coin gems have also changed this week.
I know that to earn coins at the end of the game, you get one per each multiplier that you've earned.
Ok, they're maybe a little goofy looking when you first see one but they're actually very cool. I first saw one at a restaurant that a friend of mine owns. He explained that they were a unique design that Samuel Adams worked on which was supposed to bring out the full flavor of the beer. I ended up doing some website work for him and instead of getting paid, I did a trade for some of these pint glasses. I'm glad I did.
I used them the other night and a friend of mine also liked them. I decided I'd hop online and try to find out the real story behind these Sam Adams pint glasses and here's what I found:
"It’s been a personal passion of mine to develop a beer glass that elevates the craft beer drinking experience" said Jim Koch, founder and brewer of Samuel Adams. “We wanted to create a glass that offers beer lovers a full sensory drinking experience by fully showcasing Samuel Adams Boston Lager’s complex balance of malt and hop flavors. This glass achieves that mission."
Tiax, the world-renowned sensory experts, worked closely with Jim to identify and evaluate the functional design features needed in a glass to showcase the key attributes of Samuel Adams Boston Lager®. The key requirements for the perfect glass for Samuel Adams Boston Lager included: delivering sweetness from the malt; maximizing the hops aroma and flavor; maintaining the ideal temperature; supporting a rich and creamy head; and sustaining the right amount of carbonation.
That was from the Sam Adams website. Here's another:
He points out that the top of the glass is a tulip shape, much like a traditional Belgian beer glass, which concentrates the aroma for the drinker. The rim of the glass turns outward which creates turbulence as the beer passes over it.
In addition, the bottom of the glass is scored, which creates a nucleation point. The beer sloshing over the depressions etched by a laser releases bubbles of carbonation which rise to the top of the glass, delivering more aroma to the drinker. If you look at the glass from the bottom, you can see a ring of bubbles flowing upward from the scoring, he said.
I looked; it’s true.
Oh yes, the lower half of the glass is narrow, which makes it easy for the beer drinker to hold. Most of the beer is in the tulip-shaped bowl at the top, so your hands won’t warm the beer too much.
“It a glass designed specially for Sam Adams Boston Lager,” Wood said.
According to the company, the new Samuel Adams Boston Lager Pint Glass is the first glass specifically designed to showcase beer as brewers intended.
One feature of the new glass is a neck-and-lip design that "helps sustain the head of the beer, which enhances the release of signature Noble hop aromas found in Samuel Adams Boston Lager," the company said.
Pretty cool... I didn't know how a glass was shaped could change the flavor or something.
And I found you can also order custom pint glasses. This would be cool if you brewed your own beer at home.
Ok, they're maybe a little goofy looking when you first see one but they're actually very cool. I first saw one at a restaurant that a friend of mine owns. He explained that they were a unique design that Samuel Adams worked on which was supposed to bring out the full flavor of the beer. I ended up doing some website work for him and instead of getting paid, I did a trade for some of these pint glasses. I'm glad I did.