PLAYER'S GUIDE FOR JEWELS
Here you will find instructions on how to play Jewels, learn how
to use the controls, and discover a few playing tips along the
way. Also, you'll learn about the various options that are
available from the configuration screen and what they mean.
Game play is simple:
The object is to line up three or more jewels of the same color
in a row-- horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. When the
jewels line up, they explode and are eliminated from the play
field. The remaining jewels fall down into the gaps,
possibly causing a chain reaction of multi-colored explosions.
As the stack of jewels works its way down the screen, you can move the stack
left or right in the playfield. The gems can be rotated within
the stack to change the order of the gem colors, letting you place
the gems in the order desired.
As each stack of jewels lands, the game speeds up slightly,
increasing the difficulty of the game.
Bonus points are awarded for clearing more that three jewels at
once. You can line up blocks of similar jewels to get massive
bonus points! The real key to the game is learning how to line
up the gems so that you can clear more than just three at a
time. The only way to get real high scores is to line up as
many as you can.
Be careful, though, as blockade bricks sometimes appear with the
jewels. These blocks are indestructible and hamper your
progress. Keep them out of the way-- careful planning will
minimize their impact.
Occasionally, magic jewels appear, which will clear out any jewel
that it comes in contact with--- including all jewels of the same
color on the playfield! These jewels can clear dozens of
colored jewels at once, and can rid the play field of the pesky
blockade bricks!
The game ends when you cannot successfully place the entire stack
of jewels on the screen (the stack reaches the top of the playing
field).
Jewels was designed to be played on a system with a 4-directional
pad.
Move the column LEFT and RIGHT using the direction pad.
Press UP to rotate the order of the jewels within the stack.
Press DOWN to drop the stack rapidly. This also awards you
bonus points.
During the game, the primary action button will PAUSE the game and
allow you to select options. The secondary button will allow
you to QUIT the game.
Don't try to clear just three gems in a row. Whenever
possible, try to set it up so that a line of jewels disappears
when the stack lands. Extra points are awarded for more than
three jewels. It's easy to line up a block of 5 or 6-- try
clearing 10 or 15 for monster bonus points!
When playing with blockade bricks, try to keep them near the edges
of the board, so that they aren't in the way.
Use the magic jewels to clear the blockade bricks from the
screen. Since they will be there all game, it's best to
clear them out whenever you can.
Always keep the "top" of a blockade gem free, in the
event that you get a magic jewel. There is nothing worse
than having a screen full of blockade bricks laying around, and no
way to clear them when the magic jewel finally appears.
Try to clear horizontal or diagonal stacks, not vertical
stacks. Vertical stacks generally only affect the one stack,
while the others can affect three or more stacks. When the
jewels are cleared and the stacks fall down, there is a greater
chance of causing a chain reaction this way.
Occasionally, you are given a stack with three identical
jewels. Don't just land it anywhere-- try to land it on top
of a similar color for easy bonus points.
Keep your eye of the stack indicator in the upper left of the
screen! This area shows you which stack of jewels will be
played next, so plan ahead and use this knowledge to your
advantage.
When you know where you want to place a stack of jewels on the
play field, press down on the pad. Not only will it make the
game play faster, you receive bonus points for your ability to
think quickly.
There are several options available from the configuration screen
that allow you to change the difficulty of the game and how it
plays.
| Sound |
This
option allows you to toggle the game sounds on and off.
Note that if you disable the game sounds, the music is also
disabled. |
| Music |
This option allows you to toggle the music on and
off.
|
| Speed |
This option determines how quickly the stacks of jewels fall
down the screen initially. Every time a stack lands the
game speeds up slightly. By starting slow, you are given
more time to figure out how to play the game pieces. |
| Speedup |
This option determines how quickly the game speed increases
when each stack lands. |
| Blockades |
This option determines the frequency at which the blockade
bricks appear. These gray cubes get in the way of your
progress and must be dealt with quickly and
intelligently. Normally, the only way to rid yourself of
these pesky blocks is to use a magic gem to clear them out--
if you land a magic gem on top of one of these blocks, they
will all disappear from the playing field. They don't
appear as often as the other colors do, and this setting
allows you to alter how many appear through the course of the
game. |
| Destructible |
By default, the blockade bricks are indestructible (except
by a magic gem), regardless of how many you line up in a
row. However, you can toggle this flag to allow the
blockade bricks to be played like the other jewels in the
game, allowing you to clear them out by lining them up. |
| Difficulty |
This option selects how many different jewels are
available. In the Novice game, only 4 different colors
are played. Amateur allows 5 different jewels to appear,
while Pro allows all 6 colors to be randomly selected.
When there are more colors available, it is more difficult to
line up jewels with matching colors. Setting the game to
Novice or Amateur generally leads to substantially higher
scores and the ability to line up many more jewels in a
row. Note that the Pro setting is the
default. |
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