Bejeweled Multiplayer
Bejeweled Multiplayer is a game in the Bejeweled series developed by Demivision with PopCap Games, and published by JAMDAT. It was released for mobile phones with Java (Java 2 Micro Edition, J2ME, Java ME) on May 1, 2003 and released after the game Diamond Mine for Java. It was ported to 300+ different phones depending on screen resolution, buttons, configurations.
The game's main focus is the multiplayer functionality. The game's rules and mechanics bears similarities to the Battle mode from the Nintendo DS version of Bejeweled Twist. Bejeweled Multiplayer also has its own power ups that you could use during gameplay. The official JAMDAT Bejeweled Multiplayer Forums tracked Wins/Losses and Score statistics in a players profile. The game received high praise with scores up to 9/10, and was also shown off at the “Sprint Vision” showcase at E3 2003, as well as G4’s “G-PHORIA” awards showcase where it won best mobile game of the year.
The game was considered lost media for a very long time until it was found through Discord on October 17, 2023. Currently The game’s multiplayer functionality does not work, however it could function again if a host starts up and hosts the Bejeweled MP servers using the necessary files for it. The community site could also potentially work again using JAMDAT and Demivision server admin tools.
Before Bejeweled Multiplayer was made, there was a demo called BattleBlox, which was a Tetris style head to head game to showcase Demivision’s multiplayer system. For their first officially released game using the multiplayer system, they chose to make Bejeweled as JAMDAT had the rights to the Bejeweled IP at the time.
PDub, the name shown in most screenshots and footage, actually stands for someone named Patrick and their enjoyment of Dubstep.
Gameplay
Bejeweled Multiplayer features two modes that can be accessed by the player. The game plays by the same rules as Bejeweled.
Multiplayer
Players can connect via Multiplayer Menus. They can play against a computer player while matchmaking. Multiplayer games are played against another player, where they must match gems to reduce each others' power bar. The first player to have their power bar reach red levels loses the game, unless they score enough matches to fight back. The 'Power' statistic indicates a player's power level at the end of the game.
There are four Special Gems (called "Weapons" in-game) which can be obtained by a player:
- Anti-Gravity - New gems do not fall in after you make a match.
- Cave-In - Removes all gems from the board.
- Crazy Pad - Reverses all controls on the opponent's keypad.
- Holes - Empty spaces are left in the board after making a match.
Multiplayer mode records statistics that determine the current rank of a player. Disconnecting or forfeiting to avoid loss would not help a player's ranking. It is possible to play as a Guest account, but statistics and match history would not be saved.
Skill Levels in order from highest to lowest are:
- Diamond (Master)
- Sapphire (Expert)
- Ruby (Good)
- Topaz (OK)
- Zircon (Poor)
Single-player
Single-player mode is an adaptation of Time Trial mode from Bejeweled. The bottom screen that would normally show the opponent's board in multiplayer is replaced with the JAMDAT logo.
Links
- IGN article about the game
- Demivision site containing info about the game
- JAMDAT website specific to the game
- Website containing similar info to the Bejeweled Multiplayer website
- PDub Footage of the game
- Bejeweled Multiplayer community page
- The files for the game
Gallery
Bejeweled Multiplayer community corner header.
Bejeweled Multiplayer community logo header.
Bejeweled Multiplayer community center header.
Bejeweled Multiplayer page tab.
Loading Screen
Gameplay screenshot.
Bejeweled Multiplayer gem's spritesheet.
High resolution of gems.
The icon for the BattleBlox demo
Singleplayer mode
- Bejeweled
- Bejeweled (series)
- Games