Bejeweled is a nice PalmOS implementation of the online gaming hit by PopCap Games, Diamond Mines. Bejeweled is yet another excellent example of an extremely addicting game designed round a very simple concept. Do you remember the old Lay's potato chips line, "Bet You Can't Eat Just One"? I bet you can't play Bejeweled just once.

Playing the game
Bejeweled is a very simple game to play. You begin with an 8 x 8 board filled with various jewels. You have to swap any two adjacent gems to create rows of 3 or more of the same type. When a line is cleared from the board new gems replace it. There are two different game modes, easy and timed mode.

• Easy Mode: In easy mode there is a bonus meter at the bottom of the page. The bonus meter fills as you clear lines of gems from the screen. Completely fill the bonus meter and you will get a bonus. A wave will sweep across the screen removing random gems and enabling new lines to be created. When there are no longer any possible moves the game ends and the tiles fall out of the screen.
• Timed Mode: In the timed mode your are battling the clock. The bonus meter at the bottom of the screen is replaced with a countdown timer. When a line is cleared a little bit of time is added to the timer. If you are able to completely fill the timer you will get a bonus just as in the easy mode, and the timer will revert to the original level. If no valid moves are available the gems will all be removed, and a new set will fill the screen. When the timer has expired your game is over.

Special Features
Astraware has built a few special features into Bejeweled that I've found very helpful. One of the most appealing features is the hint feature. If you've searched and searched for the gem(s) that can clear lines, but just can't seem to find them just write a graffiti 'h' and a gem on the screen will twinkle. This gem can somehow be used to clear a line. Note: In the easy mode the hint feature can be set to automatically activate after 10 seconds. Also, if you are playing in the timed mode the hint command will cost you 5 seconds from the timer.

If you write a graffiti 't' you will be able to access a special 'tweak settings menu.' This menu will allow you to make subtle changes to the game that may help to make it more enjoyable for you. These setting should not have any effect on your score, but it is still a nice menu to have. Here are the setting that you can adjust in the 'tweak setting dialog':

• You can choose whether the gems fall together, or spread out as they fall
• You can select the of a sound that gems make as they land. (click uses the system click by default - if you change this with a hack, you'll get 'interesting' effects...)
• Select whether you want an audible tick as the countdown timer runs down when playing in timed mode