The rules will be familiar to anyone that's played recent versions of Bejeweled like Blitz. Matching three gems is a basic clear. Matching four in a row creates a flame gems that can thereafter be detonated to clear a large space. Five generates a hypercube that will wipe out all of a particular color on the board. And matching two perpendicularly oriented rows of three generates a star gem that obliterates vertical and horizontal lines when activated. PopCap uses these base rules in all Bejeweled 3's modes but applies various secondary twists that affect your play style in satisfying ways. 

Whether you're craving fast-faced action or prefer to relax while destroying virtual valuables, PopCap's put enough into Bejeweled 3 to satisfy. The Classic mode here is exactly what you'd expect. Match gems and proceed stage by stage until you can't match anymore. If you patch together a decent enough combo an instant replay can be triggered to watch it again, a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of Bejeweled's nature as a nexus of the hardcore and casual crowds. 

While Classic tends to be fairly low pressure compared to the other modes, the most relaxing of all is Zen. This lets you swap and shatter gems with no restrictions, and PopCap's added in a bunch of audio/visual options to boost its soothing effect. I can't say I ever descended into some kind of drooling trance by turning on coastal ambient sounds or binaural alpha patterns, but I suppose I can't really rule out its effectiveness either. 

Let off some steam, Bennett!

Those looking for something more challenging can click into Lightning mode, which is basically just Blitz. It gives you a minute on the clock to clear as many gems as possible, and as you match additional time gems will tumble down to extend the session and activate bonuses. Like Blitz, this is especially addictive, and it's easy to jump in and out since, assuming you're good, two or three rounds will only take only around five minutes. It's about as entertaining as gaming gets if you've only got a few minutes to spare, and the challenge is satisfying enough to warrant longer play sessions in search of a higher score. 

For those looking for a more structured progression there's also a Quest mode in Bejeweled 3, letting you participate in a range of small challenges of increasing difficulty. These include variations of existing Bejeweled 3 modes as well as others that add bombs or require only specific colors of jewels to be matched. The progression is nice enough, though the mode lacks the replayability of the seven others since once you're done, there's no real reason to return. 

Spending some time with those four modes unlocks the next, more specialized tier. Poker feels the most distinct, giving you five turns to make five card hand. Each match locks in that particular color to a card, so you need to spend time surveying the board to see which colors are clustered closest together to form matches within five turns. PopCap applies pressure by gradually forcing you towards the higher value matches like flushes, so even though there's no clock, this isn't a relaxing mode. The stringent restrictions also mean the joyful cascades that so strongly characterize Bejeweled are rendered meaningless. While I appreciate how different this mode feels, it also wasn't one I found myself returning to very often since it lacks some of the chaotic joy of the others. 

Glorious combos.

Both Diamond Mine and Ice Storm modes should be more than enough for anyone looking for high pressure gameplay like Lightning, but both with unique takes. In Ice Storm frozen columns perpetually rise behind the board, and the only way to halt their advance is to match. The challenge grows as the columns become thinner and rise faster, making this the most frantic of any mode. Diamond Mine, on the other hand, gives you a clock and requires matches be made along the bottom of the screen to destroy dirt. Once the dirt's busted down below a specific line more rises up to take its place, and you get bonuses for unearthing valuables like treasures and gold. Both offer plenty of flashy visuals, sound and combo opportunities that make them exciting to play and absolutely worth returning to. 

Of all the modes I think my favorite is Butterflies. This one doesn't have a timer, but does have a spider. It sits at the top of the screen and waits for butterfly jewels to flutter to the top, which they do at a rate of one space per turn. When the spider snatches a butterfly the game is over. The mix of high pressure gameplay with thoughtful combo planning is why I returned to this mode more than others. As the screen gradually fills up with more and more butterfly gems matches need to be wisely chosen. The idea is to make sure to shatter gems underneath butterflies closest to the top to keep them out of the spider's reach. Then, if a butterfly combo is produced, the resulting display of color and sound matches the sugary highs of a well-aimed shot in Peggle. 

Regarding requirements, it's likely you can run this game in a window on just about anything. But for those with more advanced hardware you can bump it up to high resolution and run it in full screen for maximum effect. The sounds will be familiar to those who've played recent versions of Bejeweled as jewels click and shatter in an avalanche of positive reinforcement and a bassy announcer will congratulate you at every possible opportunity. 

The only real negative here, and it's a fairly significant one for me, is that this game doesn't have online leaderboards. It's a bit confusing why PopCap did this considering Blitz is integrated into Facebook so you can look at friends' scores, so hopefully it'll be added down the line. For now, though, you're competing only locally, racking up badges earned through special achievements. The gameplay's still great, but it could get a lot more mileage with a sharper competitive edge.