The reason for my poor record is that, like the Marlins, I lack the talent and strategy to beat my opponents. Unlike the Marlins, however, there is nothing for me to do about the “talent” part. The Marlins could spend a ton of money to buy better players. Me? No amount of money is going to make me any smarter. I’m stuck with my own stupidity. But I can get better at the strategy of Bookworm Heroes. And the game does have tons of strategy. Which is why, even while I’m sucking at it, I’m having so much fun.

So since I’ve just spent two paragraphs emphasizing my lack of skill at the game, I am now not going to offer my tips to you. The only tip I really have is “don’t listen to tips from me.” This will at least ensure you don’t get slaughtered.

What I can do, however, is provide you with a rundown of the game’s heroes — who they are, and what they’re good for. Because it’s right there in the title of the game. This isn’t just about being good at Bookworm. It’s about knowing who the heroes are, how to use them, what their signature tiles and ultimate skills are, and when to use each. If I’d only read something like what I’m about to write before playing my first game, I might have sucked like .00001 percent less. Here’s hoping it does the same for you.

(And by the way, if you haven’t played the game since launch, you should know that we now feature a different hero for free each week, and you can also buy each hero permanently for a one-time cost, which I’ll list below.)

LEX (25,000 coins)

The hero we all know and love. The star of every previous version of Bookworm. Lex’s signature tile is the Apple Tile. This tile, when used in a word, will replenish a little bit of your health. Lex’s ultimate skill is also health related, granting you bonus health for each 3 or 4 letter word you create. Needless to say, Lex is best for defensive players. You get no extra attack bonuses with him but you will have a much better chance of hanging in longer — and making your opponent have to fight harder to win.

HAMLET  (60,000 coins)

Alas poor Hamlet! First he’s haunted by his own father, now he’s stuck making words forever in a video game. He gets his revenge, though. For one, his signature tile is the Inky Tile, in which he sprays random tiles on your opponent’s board with ink, rendering them unusable for one turn. Though this isn’t a huge deal at the beginning of the game, it can be crucial at the end, especially in a close game when every point (and letter) matters. Hamlet’s ultimate skill, fittingly enough for English lit nerds, is called Sweet Revenge, which, when used wisely, can strike your opponent as brutally as (spoiler alert!) Claudius gets it in the end. With Sweet Revenge, you are challenged to spell a word with a higher point count than your opponent played on his last turn. Do so, and those points of his are added to yours for a devastating attack. Great for those with big vocabularies or cheaters using a dictionary.

RAZOR  (90,000 coins)

Like Keanu Reeves, Razor can, like, totally hack into the Matrix (that is, your opponent’s board) for brutal attacks. She’s also purple, just to be extra cool. Razor’s signature tile is the Cyber Tile, which grants huge point bonuses for shorter words. The catch, however, is that those tiles cannot be used at all in words longer than 5 letters.  This is great if you’re like me, or Keanu, and tend to not use words longer than, say, “whoa” on a daily basis. Razor’s ultimate skill is Hack & Spell, which not only lets you make longer words, but also lets you do it with tiles stolen from your opponent’s board. My personal favorite of all the hero skills, Hack & Spell can often be the single strongest offensive attack in the game, especially when used in conjunction with special tiles.

POLYPHEMUS (60,000 coins)

If you know what this name is referencing, then congratulations, you are a somewhat educated person. Me? I had to look it up on Wikipedia. Apparently, Polyphemus was the one-eyed son of Poseidon and Thoosa, and also the big cyclops that Odysseus meets in Homer’s Odyssey. It’s kind of a bummer to me that I didn’t remember this, given that I took a semester class specifically on that book, but, hey, whaddya gonna do? I was probably playing pinball during most of those lectures. In any case, here in this game, Polyphemus is also kind of a beast. His signature tile is the Smashed Tile, in which he pounds on your opponent’s tiles, lowering their point value. Polyphemus will keep doing this throughout the game, rendering your opponent’s board a wasteland of lower point values, making it much harder to score high-point words. Likewise, his ultimate skill is Tile Driver, which will smash tiles and lower their value four times in a row, possibly crushing tiles down to zero, exploding them and smashing adjacent tiles. Overall, a great hero to use against those with big vocabularies.

This is a mere overview of the heroes. This is not enough to grant you a victory, for which I am sorry. What you also need to know is which hero to counter with when you’ve been challenged, as well as which pet to pick to effectively tag team. These are subjects for another day, written by another person. But I do hope that even this superficial overview helps you understand one of the game’s fundamentals. Bookworm Heroes is more complex than it looks. The more you dive in, the better you’ll get. But knowing the heroes is important! Don’t just pick Lex every time because he’s cute. Cute only gets you so far in life. Believe me, I found that out the hard way.

Watch live video from popcap on TwitchTV

In recent times, however, you may have noticed that we have, ahh, not released very many new games.  But the good news is, after making you wait an unusually long time, for us, we are on the verge of releasing a deluge of new, great games. And when I say “great,” it’s not because I am being paid to say it. I am not actually paid to love our games. Granted, I probably wouldn’t write a treatise on why one of our games sucked, because, well, that would just be stupid and probably career-limiting, and I have a kid in college. Still, in two years I’ve never been pressured to come out and go “YAY THIS GAME IS AWESOME!” either.  So when I tell you I’ve played four of our upcoming games, and seen two others, and am thrilled with what I’ve played and seen, I’d like to think you can at least sort of trust me. You’ve all been very patient with us, especially regarding Plants vs. Zombies 2, but, to paraphrase cultural giants Hans and Franz, listen to me now and believe me later when I tell you there is good stuff awaiting you.

In case you’re wondering, the reason I’m in Xtreme Cheerleader Mode for PopCap today is that for the first time in a little while I have now found myself unreasonably addicted  to one of our own games: Solitaire Blitz for iOS. I played this game for a bit on Facebook, and always liked it, but it wasn’t until its recent conversion to iOS that I truly found the love. Because playing Solitaire Blitz on the iPad just feels like the way it was meant to be played. The problem now, as was the problem I had in that Peggle column from 5 years ago, is that I simply cannot stop playing. Every spare moment I get – including in the middle of conversations with my wife when it’s her turn to talk – is spent trying to increase my high score for the week. I play at night in bed until my eyes close and the iPad hits my forehead. (And then when that wakes me up I play a few more rounds.) I’m dreaming of the game, too, counting up and down the stacks of cards while otherwise occupied with other dream activities, like flying over my neighborhood or sitting in class in my underwear with no term paper to turn in. The point is, while I’m not required to love our games, I am now, completely accidentally, utterly hooked. It feels good. It’s a reminder of why I came here in the first place. It’s a reminder that PopCap is not done making great games. There is so much good stuff on the way. But right now, if you haven’t picked it up yet, go get Solitaire Blitz on iOS. You won’t be sorry – unless you have a life to live.

So, you may have heard rumors about a Bejeweled board game. You may have even seen it on store shelves. And you may have asked yourself, while staring at the box, “Wait, what? Why would I want a board game version of a game I have on oh so many of my digital devices?”

Today we are here to answer that question. Or rather, to let you watch the answer. Because what we have here, in an exclusive world premiere, is video footage of a few of us at PopCap actually playing the board game. Watch in amazement as real-life PopCap employees play this game in front of your very eyes, thanks to the magic of “video cameras”  and “the Internet!” No trick photography! All stunts performed by the actors themselves! No animals harmed too badly!

So, yes, the Bejeweled board game, brought to you by our good friends at Hasbro, is a fun, “offline” version of the game, and once you watch this video, you’ll see why! So watch already! Go on! Hit play! If you’re on this blog we already know you have some time to kill!

“Phew!”

Okay maybe I should say a few more words, or this will be a very short blog post. The next thing we should say, most assuredly, is “thank you” to all those who attended and stopped by our booth. PopCap has been going to the PAX conventions in Seattle and Boston for the past few years, and we always have an amazing time. But this past weekend in Boston was probably the best of them all so far, as we were crushed by enthusiastic fans all weekend long, to the point where the only thing greater than our utter exhaustion was the immense feeling of gratitude we had for the response we received. So, again: Thank you!

This year was particularly stressful as far as working at a game company goes – because the booth that we had planned, around a certain unreleased game, completely fell through in the last few weeks leading up to the show. So the booth that those in Boston saw this weekend is what we might refer to as a  Hail Mary, or final act of desperation. Basically, a few of us sat in a conference room,  with flies swirling around our heads,  as we attempted to come up with a booth concept at the last minute. Someone – I don’t remember who – said, “Hey, how about a carnival?” And with lack of a better second idea, that’s what we went with.

But, hey — who doesn’t love a carnival?  With a Kiss the Zombie booth, a magician, a High Striker game, a Not-A-Lemonade Stand (loaded with free PopCap swag), and the Incredible Swag Machine itself, which dispensed our ever-popular Wall-nut caps every couple hours, we inadvertently created a three-day mob scene. Give people free entertainment and free gifts, and they’ll be happy! Who knew?

Honestly, as much fun as it is working at a game company most of the time, it really is just another office job, with all the stress, workloads, politics, compromises, and boring meetings as every other office job. So it’s easy for us to lose sight of the bigger picture. What shows like PAX East do is remind us of that bigger picture. Which is you. Spending three days with tens of thousands of happy, enthusiastic gamers, fans, and nerds of all ages, nationalities, body types, and planetary affiliations brings it back home to us just how much fun all of this is supposed to be, and how making people happy is really all we’re in it for.

We may have given you free stuff, for which you are more than welcome, but, in our eyes, you gave us the bigger gift: You showed us just how awesome it is to for us to do what we get to do. Some of you also reminded us of the importance of practicing proper hygiene, but that’s a blog post for another day.

And if you somehow didn’t make it to PAX East, you still have a chance to get the virtual goodies we were handing out at the show, including a free copy of Peggle, right here:  http://www.popcap.com/promos/pax-east-2013

Enjoy, and we’ll see you at PAX Prime in the fall! Yay!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

And this in fact would accurately describe my state of mind, as we get close to being a mere seven days away from PAX East in Boston. This is because, as is always the case with conventions, there are a million loose ends still, and, at this point, it doesn’t seem like any of them are actually going to get done. You know that feeling you get when you have a paper due, and you haven’t done the reading yet, and it’s due tomorrow, and there’s no way you could possibly finish it, and you think you’re going to flunk out and have to get a job at Arby’s? Yeah, that’s kind of my day today. I’ll give you a real world example:  Yesterday, we found out that the contractor building our booth had fallen sick and would not be able to complete the booth in time. So, with nine days to go, we still didn’t have a booth built and had no one to construct it. Oh yeah, and our swag was missing.

Granted that in the grand scheme of the universe, these are not big problems. I am aware of where this falls on the scale of things to complain about, compared to say, a famine.  Still, somebody has to be responsible for the PopCap booth at PAX East, and that someone is me. So I’m complaining. Wheeee!

Oh yeah, so we have a booth at PAX East. If’n you don’t know what that is, it’s the Penny Arcade Expo, a humongous gaming convention being held in Boston March 22-24. If that sounds cool to you, you’re right, because it is. But if you don’t have tickets already, forget it, because it sold out long ago. PopCap will be there, in what is actually our first-ever appearance on the main show floor. (Previously we have relegated ourselves to the lobby or hallways or sidewalks outside.) Which accounts for the extra panic.

Our plans of what we were going to do at PAX, and what we were going to show, have varied from week to week, if not day to day. And I’m not sure I’m entirely clear on it, still. However, what I can tell you is that — because we found it on a loading dock — we are indeed going to have fantabulous free swag to hand out, as usual. So if you are lucky enough to be going, stop by Booth 974,  say hi, and grab a cool, entirely free, one-of-a-kind PopCap goodie, and rejoice! And don’t go putting it on Craigslist or eBay afterwards, because that just makes us sad.

PAX East is one week away!  Yay! (?)

Hope to see you there!
–Jeff

You can call it jumping on the bandwagon if you like, because that’s pretty much what we’ve done here, but we have now launched a channel on Twitch TV, which has become the de facto Internet standard for livestreaming in the gaming world. We’re thrilled to join Twitch, and are working now on programming ideas (so please let us know what you’d like to see!). In the meantime, as pretty much just a “test,” I recorded myself playing the first few levels of Insaniquarium, with commentary, just to make sure it all works, and to experiment with the idea of doing video versions of my periodic “From the PopCap Vault” blog pieces, in which I go through our back catalog to talk about old games. Dumb idea? Fun idea? Get a real job? Let me know what you think. Oh, and buy Insaniquarium! One of our best games ever!

Watch live video from PopCap on Twitch

To all those who did not win, or those who did not enter, do not despair. You will have another chance, another day. Soldier on as best as you can for now, and we’ll be back soon with another contest, and another chance for you to be a Genuine Internet Winner!

Honey, you’ve GOT to do something about that hair!

Greetings, earthlings, and happy Monday! It is time, once again, to pry open the PopCap vaults, Geraldo Rivera style, in search of long forgotten or just perhaps slightly less hyped PopCap gold. One thing we’ve learned over the years is that people tend to like our games, but they don’t always necessarily know that we made them. Actually, that goes for some of us at PopCap too, especially the more absent-minded and bewildered amongst us. And then there are the games that, sadly, and sometimes unjustifiably, hardly anyone remembers at all — good games that never fully got their due.

Take, for example, the case of Talismania, from 2006. Here we have a fun, challenging, and charming puzzle game, one that — like all the great PopCap games — starts out simple but gets increasingly complex as you progress, and one that, unlike some of our games, doesn’t ask you to match three of anything. Yes, in this game, we explored an entirely different mechanic! Not only that, but you get to play as King Midas, which not even supposedly “cooler” games like Halo let you do. The guy turns stuff into gold, which we’ll take over an uncharismatic, helmeted alien killer any day.

In any event, you play as King Midas, though not on one of his better days. It seems that the King’s Midas Touch has accidentally transformed his daughter, Marygold, into a golden statue. Zeus, slumming from his throne on Mount Olympus to appear in this computer game, has agreed to help Midas transform Marygold back if Midas uses magical talismans to make money to spend on others rather than himself. As you solve each of the game’s puzzles, builders will take the coins you earn to build structures for local townspeople in need, thus fulfilling Midas’ obligation and saving Marygold. Yes, it is a heartwarming tale with a message: That it is better to give away your money rather than hoard it for yourself. And you can follow Midas’ example and give your money to us to play this heartwarming tale for only $9.95.

About the game itself, it has a few cool things going on. You are presented with a grid of hexagonal tiles, inside of which are sections of a pathway. You must rotate the tiles to line up the pathway, while collecting the two or more talisman tiles that appear on each level. As you clear the talismans, you earn coins, with each level requiring a certain amount of coins to complete. Talismania boasts one of PopCap’s cooler musical scores, performed on classical instruments and sounding vaguely Greek-like at times, as well as a goofy cartoon style created by longtime PopCap artist Matt Holmberg. Once you complete the game’s Story mode, you unlock a Hero mode in which you do basically the same thing, but now with a timer.

What Talismania lacks in visceral thrills or action it makes up for in more methodical strategic thinking. Plus, again, you get the valuable lesson that it is better to share your riches than keep them for yourself. We like to think of ourselves not just as game makers, but also as teachers — philosophers, if you will — imparting valuable life lessons upon you as you spin the hexagons around and collect coins. No, it may be no substitute for a college degree, but for anyone who tells you computer games are immoral or a source of social decay, Talismania stands proud as a beacon of wisdom and reason. Just as I was a better person for writing this blog post, you’ll be a better person for playing this game. Congratulations.