How do you get the really high scores?

[ArchiveGuest]

(This post was originally by WarrenWright)
Hi everyone,

So, what are the major tricks in timed mode to get the extremely high scores I see on the astraware website?

I have never gotten above 50,000, and my friend who borrows my Clie SJ33 to play a lot has only gotten to 79,000....

Thanks!

Warren Wright

[Cheryl]

I think one good thing to do is to try to get more than 3 of the same color gems in a row. Or to get a chain reaction.

[BigGoodBig]

Always have a spare match available at the bottom. Work your way down the game get the matches on top first.

[ArchiveGuest]

(This post was originally by VirtualHate)
No way man, it\'s better to get the gems from the bottom first so you get larger amounts of gems to fall, thereby increasing the probability of large chain reactions.

-Virtual Hate (Jim)

[BigGoodBig]

VirtualHate, didn’t you just mention in another thread that you only got about 50,000 maybe you should try to do what we said.

[Howard]

Although it so happens that he agrees with the developer on the best strategy - i.e. go for matches lower down.

I don\'t know if my opinion means too much though :)

Howard.

[BigGoodBig]

What is your highest score Howard?

[Howard]

I know this sounds weak, but I honestly never look at the scores!
Easy mode is just down to luck, and so the only difference is how many points you make before your luck runs out.
On timed mode I can\'t remember a game ending - I can generally play pretty much constantly. (I normally have to put the Palm away before I get to a point where its too fast, but then Bejewelling is a completely subconscious skill now, I don\'t really concentrate to play it.)

Asking the developer their best score isn\'t a good question :) You should see Dan playing Star Racer!

Unless its for Alchemy, that is, because I can\'t do more than a couple of levels into the hard mode. (I love Alchemy, but I\'m not that good at it.)

Howard.

[DBZ-GOKU-]

I like Alchemy too. It is one of my favorite games Astraware makes (and many others). :) But, I am bad at all of them. All of my scores are really low...:( (except Zap!2016).

[tobeast]

After I set the game speed to slow, I\'m able to get more than 500000 points. I\'m still working on getting higher than that. I\'m only at #156 on the Astraware high score board. ;) Another thing is that I always try to have another move, I search the board for a new move while I swap two gems. Oh, and I also serach for matches primarily in the bottom half of the board. I don\'t know how I could ever possibly get 79000000!!!

[ArchiveGuest]

(This post was originally by Rimbo)
Actually, \"Easy\" mode has very little to do with luck.

I have figured out how, with a little discipline, to make Bejeweled! games last indefinitely.

Follow the following three rules, in order.

1. If by making the move, you create a move possibility that exists below the three you just removed, or at the same level, make that move.

2. If no such move as #1 exists, make a move which causes an existing move to drop down lower.

3. If no such move as #1 or #2 exist, make the highest move possible.

The trick to a high score is getting the game to last as long as possible.

The reason this strategy works is that Bejeweled! is much like Tetris. In Tetris, the higher your stack gets, the less time you have to make a decision, and the greater chance your game will end. In Bejeweled, there is a similar factor (in that gems always drop down) -- where the lowest move you can possibly make defines how much freedom you have in making your next move; in general, once gems fall to the bottom corners of the playing area, they stay there for good.

The above strategy works to keep your lowest possible move as low as possible, and to create new moves at the lowest part of the screen. Not only does this increase your chances for a combo, but it all but eliminates the possibility that your game will end.

[Howard]

Nice description, but... I disagree :)

What it misses is that the value of cascades is *much* higher than of single matches. A longer game (in terms of total moves made) does not by itself mean a higher score.

A shorter game, but with a higher average points per move would come out better.

Perhaps its time I wrote that debug version that \"played by magic\" for a few hours, and get it to record some data...

Howard.

[Denny]

Yeah, I go for the one on the bottom most of the time hoping for a chain reaction. I think the most important hint is to always find the next possibility as the gems disappear and fall; even if it's on the very top.

[Unregistered]

(This post was originally by WarrenWright)
Hi everyone,

So, what are the major tricks in timed mode to get the extremely high scores I see on the astraware website?

I have never gotten above 50,000, and my friend who borrows my Clie SJ33 to play a lot has only gotten to 79,000....

Thanks!

Warren Wright

Hey Warren,
I've only got up a bit past 7 million, but there's a few things I'm learning along the way. First, don't let your urge to build that one big word destroy your game. I can't count how many times I only needed one last letter for a really cool word, and it never came! Always, always take care of those red tiles first. Oh, and it helps to know the Greek Alphabet. I'll post those for you just in case anyone needs them. That post will be titled Greek Alphabet.

[chillydk147]

Hi, I myself am new to bejeweled, while this game is easy to learn its so hard to master, I do like bejeweled 2, but the extra functionality just makes much harder to become really good at so I tend to stick to the games like the original bejeweled or Gems Swap on http://www.skillego.com