PopCap Games’ gem-blasting franchise sees a new entry in Bejeweled 3, which is available for boxed purchase at retail stores or for immediate Mac and PC download. Featuring high-resolution graphics, a new soundtrack, and a treasure chest of new modes and minigames, Bejeweled 3 is a heaping upgrade to its predecessor, well worth the $20 cost of admission.

X Marks the Spot
For those productive individuals not yet enticed by Bejeweled, the game is a casual gaming classic. You work with a board of multicolored gems, matching three or more by swapping adjacent gems. Four adjacent gems create a Power Gem, a hyperactive gem that, when detonated, will toss away surrounding gems. Aligning five gems creates a Hypercube, which, when swapped with an adjacent gem, eliminates all jewels of that color. There are all sorts of variations on this theme, but they’re just that: variations. The elegant simplicity of Bejeweled accounts for much of its popularity. Anyone can play—kids, parents, and grandparents—and they can play on an expanding array of platforms.

I downloaded Bejeweled 3 directly to a MacBook Pro, and I was surprised at its size: At nearly 120MB, Bejeweled 3 is almost exactly 100MB larger than its predecessor. It also requires Mac OS 10.5 or higher or XP SP2 or higher on a PC. The operating system requirement isn’t a tall order for Windows users—if you bought your computer in the past six years, it ought to run the right software—however, for Mac users, you’ll want to double-check compatibility if your computer is more than three years old.

Once I launched the app, I saw where all those bytes went. I chose to rev my settings to “Ultra,” which, at twice the resolution of “Normal” (1,920 by 1,200 versus 800 by 600), reveals shimmering gems, animated backdrops, and impressive visual effects. The new soundtrack, shifting from soothing to stirring, complements game play and reflects a welcome upgrade, especially with decent headphones.

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Understanding the addictive quality of its creation, PopCap makes it easy to juggle game play with day-to-day tasks. There’s a small button in the top-right corner of the screen that enables you to shrink from full-screen to a window (though I was a bit disappointed to see I couldn’t reverse the process without opening the game settings). Like the previous iteration, Bejeweled 3 also allows you to tab between it and other open applications, automatically pausing your game while you work.

Cracking the Chest
About half of the game ought to be familiar to existing players. There’s the standard “Classic” mode, where you match gems and climb levels until you exhaust moves. “Lightning,” a 60-second time trial, revisits the popular “Blitz” mode. Here you can add valuable seconds to the clock by blasting special gems, and creating chains racks up speed bonuses. I enjoyed “Lightning” in the way that I enjoy a New York City cab ride: I’m happy to have escaped in one piece. The animated backgrounds, enhanced graphics, and accelerated game play left my nerves frayed. Adrenaline junkies will love it.

“Zen” mode dials it down. An update to “Endless” mode, “Zen” lets you play for as long as you please: There’s always another move, so you cannot lose. The updated mode features oodles of enhancements, including a breathing modulation mode developed with scientists who used biofeedback to help players relax. There are even musical tones outside the range of human hearing that are supposed to assist meditation by inducing brain waves associated with dream states. Despite this knowledge, a good set of headphones, and full-screen game play, I didn’t experience anything close to meditation. When gems are exploding and electrifying, it’s difficult to locate your Zen. It’s a comparatively relaxing mode, but I wouldn’t cancel your yoga class anytime soon.

The final major mode is “Quest,” where you try your mouse at a series of puzzles and minigames. I spoke with Jason Kapalka, Chief Creative Officer at PopCap Games, who described the mode as the most substantially reworked, requiring, “dozens of new game variants to test, tune, and polish.” I enjoyed these challenges because I had a chance to work towards new objectives rather than just smashing gems; I was tasked with rescuing butterflies from spiders, tunneling through diamond mines, and battling ice storms. Completing these objectives will help earn you badges, for fun, and unlock new, special modes, for play.

Hidden Gems
In addition to all the enhancements already mentioned, Bejeweled 3 also conceals four brand-new, hidden modes derived from the “Quest” mini games. You unlock them simply by playing. For example, after I completed five objectives in “Quest,” I unlocked “Diamond Mine,” whereby exploding gems closest to soil enables you to tunnel and to accumulate gold. In “Ice Storm,” you must smash gems to shatter rapidly climbing ice that will freeze you out. “Butterflies” requires you to exercise the care of a lepidopterist or your butterflies will find their wings clipped by a spider lurking towards the top of the screen.

My favorite hidden mode was “Poker.” The premise is simple: You build a hand of cards based on the gem colors you swap. It forces you to think ahead, but doesn’t require the sort of fast-twitch dexterity I lack. PopCap did a great job integrating poker into the mix.

Striking It Rich
Bejeweled 3 is a gold rush of new features and enhancements. Just about any casual gamer will find something here to enjoy. Speed freaks will enjoy the dazzling new visual effects that “Lightning” brings to “Blitz.” Tranquil spirits will enjoy the ritual of practicing “Zen.” And skeptics who previously found little appeal in gem-swapping will enjoy new objective-oriented modes, be it saving butterflies, digging for gold, shattering ice, or concealing a poker hand.

After six years of development, Bejeweled 3 doesn’t remake the franchise, but that isn’t the aim. For the 50 million players who already enjoy it on computers, Web sites, and mobile phones, Bejeweled 3 polishes an already shining gem.