The definitive Bejeweled Blitz guide: How to collect more coins, get multipliers faster, and greatly increase your scores!
Bejeweled Blitz by is Popcap's most recent twist on the all-time classic puzzle game. Along the way to total jewel domination, you have the opportunity to use boosts, bonuses, and multipliers. If you aren't smart about it, you can deplete your coin bank, and potentially your actual wallet, quicker than you earned it. I've been playing Blitz for years and here are the tips, hints, and cheats I've found to be most useful in helping fly by your friends in the leaderboards in no time!
1. Four gem in a row combos - save 'em up!
As most Bejeweled Blitz users already know, creating a chain of 4 gems will give you a special gem that detonates the gems around it. Instead of detonating these right away, I always save them for as long as I possibly can so I have a ton of them left on the board. Try to avoid detonating them at all costs and work on increasing your overall multiplier before even thinking about detonating them. You'll be glad you did when you've got a cascading burst of gems detonating at 8x your original score!
2. Multipliers and speed bonuses are super key to a super high score
In Bejeweled Blitz you technically have two bonuses to help you rack up a super high score. Here's an explanation of both:
The speed bonus will go by how fast you are at swiping gems. If you slow down, you'll lose it. Pay attention to the added speed bonus. As you swipe gems you'll see it go up until it maxes out at +1000. This means that for every move you make, 1,000 points is getting added to your score. If you maintain that and keep swiping gems quickly, eventually the +1000 will go from yellow text to red and you'll hear a sizzling noise. Once the font is completely red, you'll get a fire bonus where every gem you swap explodes the ones around it. You'll want to swipe as fast as you can to get this bonus as many times in one round as you can.
The second kind of bonus is your actual multiplier. As gems fall, you will see some of them have a x2 or x3 in them. These multipliers go in consecutive order all the way up to x8. Always swipe to snag multipliers whenever you can. The earlier you get a higher multiplier in the game, the faster your score starts to climb. I always keep an eye out for multipliers on the board and go after them as soon as I see a move that will either match three to obtain it or where I can explode it.
Using speed bonuses and multipliers in conjunction with each other is really the key to obtaining an extremely high score. A +1000 speed bonus and an 8x multiplier can rack up some serious points in not a ton of time.
3. Choose your boosts carefully
Boosts are a tricky thing and if you're going to spend your heard earned (or paid for) coin on them, make sure you're picking the right ones. While everyone's preferences are different, I've found the following three boosts to be the most effective almost 100% of the time.
- +5 Seconds - adds 5 seconds to your total game play time
- Scrambler - Allows you to scramble the board twice in one game
- Bonus Multiplier - You start the game with a bonus multiplier already on the board
I always choose these three boosts for important reasons. Adding 5 seconds to your game play time may not seem like a ton but when you have a 8x multiplier, you can rack up a heck of a lot of points in those extra 5 seconds. Ultimately, it can make a huge different in leaderboard rankings.
The scrambler is a great one to have on hand for when you don't see anything on the board immediately. As previously discussed, you'll only get fire bonuses in game and keep the +1000 bonus if you're fast. You'll lose it and your main added bonuses will start back at zero if you aren't quick enough. The scrambler gives you two saves per round and I use them if I don't see my next move on the board while making the previous one. Getting fire bonuses with high bonuses equals lots of extra points!
Bonus multipliers mean that you start the game with a multiplier on the board already. Sometimes it can take several seconds for one to fall into view and then you've got to snag it still by matching it. The faster you start making your way to an 8x multiplier the better!
4. Make sure you cash out your daily spins
Daily spins give you coins. Even if you aren't going to be playing the game right at that moment, it doesn't hurt to pop into Bejeweled Blitz once a day to collect your daily spins. You'll need all the coins you can accumulate in order to purchase boosts, bonus gems, and other special items. Unless you're okay with paying for coins in real money, I suggest stock piling coins whenever you can.
5. Collect coins in-game
Cashing in daily spins isn't the only way to collect coins. In game you'll see several gems that look like they contain coins. That's because they do. I always pay attention to these gems because they put more coin in the bank for when I want to use bonuses or special items.
If you have some down time, it's never a bad idea to just play rounds without bonuses or boosts in order to accumulate coins. I do this from time to time just to build up a coin bank for the times I'm having a good play day and want to cash some out.
6. Special items and rare gems
Just like boosts, it's important to make sure you select the special items and rare gems that are most beneficial. In my experience the two that have been the most helpful in achieving high scores are the cat's eye and the phoenix prism.
The cat's eye comes around at the end of the round and blasts tons of pieces off the board. If you're at an 8x multiplier and have a speed bonus, a cat's eye can boost your score dramatically.
Phoenix prism gems are basically "wild cards". You can match them with any two gems of any color in order to create a chain reaction that clears all pieces across the board diagonally. It's one of the pricier bonuses so make sure you're cashing in coins only after you're good and warmed up. I typically like to wait to activate the phoenix prism gems on the board until after my multiplier is at least at a 5x or higher in order to take advantage of the chain reactions they cause.
7. Warm up before cashing coins in for boosts
Lastly, make sure you aren't wasting coins you've earned on boosts or special items until you've warmed up. I typically play a few rounds before I start cashing in coins. It also gives you an opportunity to earn a few more in the process.
8. Your tips, hints, and cheats!
These are the tips, tricks, and hints I've found to work for me throughout my many year long addiction to Bejeweled Blitz. I know many of you out there are just as addicted as I am, where you're ready to admit it or not!
If you have any useful tips or tricks, drop them into the comments below!
