Gamergoddess's Bejeweled 2 guide
Bejeweled 2 Guide
By: Gamergoddess
What I find weird about King.com's version of Bejeweled 2 is that chain explosions seem to give more points than activating hypercubes. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to get them. Hypercubes are your safety nets whenever you are stuck or need to get a nice clump of points within a short time.
The key components.
Speed - with the timed version of this game you want to move through the levels as fast as you can and get as many points/combos/hypers/bombs between those point slots of each level. You need to be able to see several moves to do (and how your current moves will influence them) every second so you can keep a steady pace. In not time you will find it very difficult to get a score under 10k. When there is a lag time between combos and moves I am still active. I click my next move constantly until the combo ends keeping the energy up. or if you cannot see anything you can just keep switching jewels until you do to keep your pace. I like that there is always that hint button there for you if you need it. You don’t want to have more than 3 seconds of lag because you are looking for new moves. Keep the pace and energy up.
Play down but LOOK UP! - For these games they always tell you "play down to create more possible combos". But if you are just playing down for "slim chances" it could cost you a lot of points and time for the bigger combos/hypers/bombs that were waiting for you above. Sometimes the game is very generous and gives you a hypercube (for you to get in one move) but if you are focusing on the bottom you will miss it, even if you are trying to get a hypercube down there to begin with. So if you are playing at the bottom make sure to scan up after the jewels fall. You could be missing some key moves and powerups.
Knowing how the gems will fall - Is also a key component to score in the game. The only thing that gets a little tricky is when you make bombs. The gem you switched to get that four combo will stay....so it wont fall at all but the rest will cause a regular drop. This comes in handy for hypercubes also. if you have something like this......
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^^ ^
You can get the hypercube in ONE move. If there is a 4 combo right under it.....and the jewel you need to switch to get it is in the same column under 4th gem in the diagram that gem will stay in place, while the other two will fall into place. and BOOM! hyper. You can also get multiple 3's also. If you have something like this.....
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Getting the 3 at the bottom will cause you to get a combo with the 3 at the top. Sometimes you can get more than 3-4 "3 combos" in by just moving the lower one and having the upper ones (which you wouldve had to get seperately) fall into place and give you huge points. One of the best bonuses from knowing how jewels will fall is making hypercubes (or hypercube combos) by using a hypercube. Yes there may be a lot of one color on the board, but if you just take a quick scan you can make one or even two hypercubes by using your current one with the "lesser" color. But you need to see how many points you have left to gain in the level. Don’t do it if you are 300-500 points away. It would ruin everything and then you have used up your hypercube.
Setting up hypercube combos - There are tons of ways to get hypercubes, some in 2 moves, some in 4 or 5. If there is a hyper to get in one move go for it. But be aware of how many points you racked up in a level. You could be focusing on getting a hyper but attain all the points you needed for that level and BOOM, gone. That’s why the time to get hypercubes is in the beginning of the level. And hey, if you do a quick scan of the entire board before you play you can find hypers which they gave to you (usually 1-2 moves to get them).
The Gap - ^^_^^ If you see gems of the same color arranged like that with the center one missing, that is a hypercube combination. There are two versions of this the verticle and the horizontal. For the horizontal one if there is a vertical move of 3 or more in that "gap column" you could use it to bring more jewels down from the center and hopefully the color you want will fall down into place.
The Vertical 4s - You can pretty much turn any 4 combo into a hypercube. The verticle ones are more tricky to attain than the horizontal ones. If you see a "vertical 4" check the rest of the column to see if there same color is there. if it is you could do a couple moves to have them line up into a hypercube combination.
The Horizontal 4s - With horizontal 4s I usually leave them alone for several moves. I just get as many moves to the side of them (without disrupting the arrangement) until the jewel color I need falls down from the bottom into place. But it depends on your time and where you are in the level. Since bomb chains give you more points overall I would just go for the bomb, unless I could turn it into a hypercube in less than 3 moves.
The upside down V -
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If you see jewels lined up like this. you can turn it into a hypercube. If you see a horizontal 3 combo centered right underneath it. it will fall into a hypercube that you can get in one move. ^^
There are other advanced ones, like if there are no hypercube combos on the board but there are moves you can do to align the gems that way, but those take an awful lot of time, and focus. And for a timed version of that game like this you really cannot afford to spend so much time and concentration on the advanced ones.
So I got a hyper, now when do I use them? - I think it's a personal preference depending on your style of play. Hypercubes are your safety nets. If you have trouble getting a lot of points from combos, then you have hypers to help you out. If you are stuck, the hyper will be there. I am a hyper hoarder. I never ever use my hypercubes unless........
My lag time for next move is over 5 seconds (or I felt I have wasted too much time in the current or previous levels) - If I take too much time to get a next move I just use it, even without clicking hint first, I just go for it. By using it then I gain back all (or at least most of) the time I lost.
If I can make another hyper from using my current one - It's so nice when you can make the jewels fall neatly into another hypercube. It depends on how many points you have left to gain in the level. if you still have a long way to go, then go for it.
The future levels are in sight - I usually hold as most of my hypercubes for levels 4+. the higher the level the faster you will need to be to gain many more points. Using the hypers then will bridge the gap and keep your speed up. If I have 2 or more hypercubes on my board is use one hyper cube each new level until I am left with just one. With only one left I go into hyper hoarder mode again XD.
When time is about to run out - that’s it, all bets are off, stop hoarding and just go crazy. XD
My Bejeweling mentality - I always go into the game actively, thinking to myself "I will make a hypercube in every level". Not even "try" I WILL make one. This keeps me active, and determined throughout the game. This single mentality helps my pace and performance throughout the game. It works for me, but it might not work for you. Set yourself goals and see which ones give you the best performance. Even if I don’t make a hyper in a level, its no skin off my bones, I still have other levels to try and pursue.
King's BJ2 - my average for the king's version is 10-11k. I rarely get below that...maybe around 10% of the time I do. Bejeweled is a very active game, and if you have trouble scanning fast or the entire board at once during any point it the game it would be very difficult, challenging and frustrating at times. But the good news is that with enough practice you can train your eyes to do so. ^_~
hope that helps some. ^__^
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Originally Posted by Grengoddess
