If you have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, I won't be offended if you go straight to download the game instead of reading the rest of this post. If you don't have any of those devices, there's never been a better reason to buy one! Not exaggerating. Or overstating. Or engaging in hyperbole.

As you may imagine, the hard part about working at a magic rainbow and unicorn factory like PopCap is knowing something awesome and not being allowed to talk about it. For months, I’ve been sitting on this one, giddy about the fun that was about to spill forth into the world, counting the days until its release. So now, let me tell you how you’re about to spend April 18th (and beyond!).

So, fair to say, there are other word games out there. You probably play a few of them, as do I.  And one of the commonalities, I find, is how much they limit you. Sure, sure, there’s benefit to that.  There’s beauty in simplicity, and there’s a challenge inherent in doing your best within restrained conditions.

And then there's the glory of being able to spell the best word you can find, spreading your linguistic wings and scoring!

Bookworm Heroes is all about you. Choose the Hero whose power best suits your play style and personality. Are you an offensive player who likes to come out swinging? Maybe you’ll enjoy playing with the power of Polyphemus, smashing your opponents’ letter tiles to lower their value. Do you kind of enjoy rubbing your foes’ noses in your victory? Hamlet’s power actually includes adding insult to injury when you know your word is better than the one they just played!

Or are you more like me, the defensive player who just wants to make beautiful words? Razor the Cyberpunk (shown above using her Hack and Spell power) allows you to pilfer choice letter tiles from your opponent, so you can build the biggest, most perfect word you can imagine!

And don’t forget Lex, whose smile never fades as he does what he loves most — Eat Your Words. His power helps keep you going in a tough spot, regaining health through syllabic snacking.

Bookworm Heroes also has special tiles that take the game to a whole new level:

The sapphire tile offers you a coin flip chance at spelling a second word using the letters from your original word. This is a very satisfying way to lay the proverbial smackdown.

You can choose to share your proudest plays on Facebook as you go:

I enjoy going the spelling bee route, using my word in a sentence.

And if you aren’t getting enough of a challenge from your friends, try starting a game with a random opponent! Anyone out there playing Bookworm Heroes may answer your call, and you will see how you measure up in the wide world of wordsmiths.

Finally, don’t forget to “like” the fan page on Facebook and learn how you might find fame as the Word of the Day!

Yep, that's me again. But like I said, I've had a head start. Now, I am competing with the whole world...so bring it on!

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!

Sleuth for clues in three Mystery P.I.  games, find your way to safety in Escape the Emerald Star and Escape Whisper Valley, travel  to Australia and Hawaii in two Vacation Quest getaways, or search the globe to help the Museum find treasure in three Amazing Adventures journeys.

For a mere $19.99, you’ll spend hours in search of over 21,400 objects in 240 scenes in these 10 games. Look for Treasure Trove Vol. 1 online at Amazon.com, and on the store shelves at Walmart.

Welcome to a new feature on the BlogRide wherein I have the pleasure of sharing some of my favorite questions we’ve received over the years here at PopCap. As you can probably guess, in recent years, they’ve been as zombie-filled as an episode of Walking Dead, but I’d like to take us back a ways, to a time when I was asked to help a little girl get back to her once-favorite game that had suddenly become traumatic to her… a game called Chuzzle.

Her mother explained that the girl had been happily playing Chuzzle for quite some time, but then she started looking more objectively at the cute, fuzzy creatures on the screen and what seemed to be happening to them when she made matches. The girl realized that she appeared to be killing cute fuzzy creatures and collecting their eyeballs in a jar. She was, understandably, horrified.

I was impressed, as I hadn’t given it that much thought myself… it’s a game, and I’m a grown-up, and they’re Chuzzles, not kittens. But it’s one of those things that once it’s pointed out, it’s kind of in your head. So I put some thought into it as I played the game again, this time with an eye toward explaining the events of the game in a way that might help a child sleep at night. And here’s what I came up with:

Yes, I really didn't think about the eyeballs until this was pointed out to me. Man, adults are jaded, simple-minded creatures at times.

The grid on which you find the Chuzzles is a prison. These cute, fuzzy creatures are being imprisoned by an evil overlord who hates all things adorable (like Gargamel or Sauron).  When you match Chuzzles, you are reuniting them with their comrades and giving them the strength to escape, because these are magical creatures, but they’re so small that they can only muster the energy for teleportation (that’s what makes the “popping” sound!) when they are in a group of three or more.

And the eyeballs? Those aren’t their eyeballs at all! Those are contact lenses they need to protect their eyes, because the atmosphere is highly toxic in the alternate dimension where the prison is located. Once they return to their home dimension, they won’t need protective lenses anymore. What you’re collecting in the jar are mementos of your good deeds, when you freed a bunch of helpless little Chuzzles from their captor and sent them home to their families.

I hope this story helps anyone out there who ever worried about the fate of Chuzzles.

Xbox 360 is a prerequisite for these item. But they also make great gifts, so don't let that stop you.

See, I love my time at the arcade, but you don’t always feel like going out to play, especially in the rainy season. At home, you may not have as many multiplayer, cooperative gaming options available. Here are a couple of great choices!

Bejeweled 3 for Xbox 360 is not only a terrific game in its own right, the disk version also includes Bejeweled Blitz Live, which is a really fun way to spend time with someone you care about. I’ve spent hours with good friends, alternately winning and losing rounds, talking smack and laughing like crazy as we make gems explode.

Plants vs. Zombies for Xbox 360 has the first-ever co-op mode in a PopCap game, and it’s a great choice if you want to sneak a love of gaming past the skeptical or snooty misgivings of a friend or partner who’s been reluctant to try it out. Even better, it also includes Peggle, the simplest form of radiant delight the world has ever known. (And if that sounds like hyperbole, you haven’t played Peggle.)

So that’s my holiday shopping list from PopCap!  What about you?

But sometimes you don’t want a roller coaster. Sometimes you want to ride the teacups. And sometimes what your heart longs for is a quiet, tranquil glide along the canal in a gondola.

If you think that sounds crazy, that's because you haven't tried it yet.

When we put up our poll on Tuesday, I was pleased as punch to see not only a fair percentage of votes but even a comment in support of my pick, Venice! (Perhaps more than one comment… the reply of “add me” is a little ambiguous. “Add” you to the list of folks who’d love to see Venice for iPad?  Sure thing!  ”Add” you as a friend?  Coming on a little strong there, guy. “Add” you to the menu? Wrong post, buddy, Zombie’s on Wednesday.)

And sure, 6% isn't much, but Zuma is unfair competition.

BlogRiders may have picked up on our quiet love for Venice over the last year. We have a tendency to bring it up in almost any list of games. When I wandered around the office asking people to name their favorite PopStrip, more than one simply exclaimed, “Gondola!” And yet, I suspect not everyone has actually played this little gem of a game, and I hope to change that.

The first thing you’ll notice about Venice is the absolutely beautiful art.

Well, and the kinda creepy baby. You get used to him.

The colors are rich and vibrant, the backgrounds filled with vines and flowers against deep red bricks, aged stones, and skies the lush hues of sunrise, dusk, and everything in between. This game is just so pretty to look at, it’s good for the spirit.

And then there’s the deceptively simple gameplay. You start out with that tutorial above, and you think, “Aim and shoot shapes? Easy.”

Like fish in a barrel, so are the shapes from the gondola. Or so you imagine.

But there’s so much complexity that develops over the course of the game. The obstacles add up, and there are slots you just cannot shoot at directly — you have to use the planes and angles to bounce the shapes into place, like a game of billiards. Then the obstacles start moving, and you not only have to plan around their angles, you have to wait for them to line up just right.

Here, for instance, I utterly failed to line up my shot to get that wind tube to deliver the heart to its home. It will ricochet all over the board, and I'll have to chase it down to avoid sinking.

That need for patience and deliberation, to me, is the heart of Venice. You can’t rush through it. If I want to challenge myself with speed and reflexes and decision-making on the fly, I’ll take on Iron Frog mode in Zuma’s Revenge.  But if I want a challenge that’s more like a zen state, I go for Venice every time.  It’s a soothing experience that pleases the eye and stimulates the mind.

So that’s my pitch for my preferred candidate. Download the free trial (right now it’s PC only, but together we can change the world), give it a go, and then, if you haven’t already voted in the poll, go do that too.  You don’t have to vote for Venice… but I wouldn’t be surprised to see its percentage rise throughout the day like the water level of the canals.

Ready...set...duel!

Duels present both you and the friend you challenge with the exact same board. That’s right–the cards will not vary at all, so the only difference is you! Your decks are dealt out in perfect synchronicity, so there is no question of a luckier draw for one player or another. One of you was faster or made better choices, and that player will be victorious!

Your high scores so far have been achieved in isolation, but now you will really have something to brag about with the objective proof of your Solitaire Blitz superiority!  At the end of the match, just click “Post Results” to do your public victory dance.

On the other hand, if you didn’t come out on top this time, you could hit Rematch to start again on a new board.  (You can always hope starting a new game will distract your victorious friend from bragging about how hard he schooled you.  No guarantees though!)

Don’t believe me? Would you play Zuma if it were called “Amphibious Ballshooter”? Well, okay, maybe that’s a bad example.

You may be aware that Bejeweled was originally called Diamond Mine, way back in 2000. But did you know we once wanted to call Plants vs. Zombies “Lawn of the Dead”? We decided George Romero (or at least his lawyers) wouldn’t like that too much.

Here’s a list of some other title ideas that didn’t make the cut — and some that I wish we could’ve tried. Because why not?

Peggle
Thunderball – Yep. This was a Thor-themed prototype of Peggle
Pego – Too close to another game brand, perhaps? You decide. But we had to change the name just weeks before the game release. That was fun!

Plants vs. Zombies
Lawn of the Dead
Morticulture
Bloom & Doom – In the game, this is the seed packet company’s name
Zombotany – Not easy to say or read, but people at PopCap liked it enough that it became a mini-game title

Venice — the only game I know of starring an unmanned gondola!
Sinking City
Better than Milan
Extreme Gondola!
Gondolamania (And why not? I mean, we already had Rocket Mania and Talismania… why not Gondolamania?)

Mystery P.I. – The Lottery Ticket
Mystery P.I. – The Curious Case of the Hidden Reality
Mystery P.I. – Have You Seen My Pants?

Zuma
Enter the Frog
Fancy Frog and the Frightening Four (no, not really)

Alchemy
Gold-Maker (exciting, isn’t it?)
Solid Gold Prancer

And finally, our old mobile game, Mars Needs Cows, likely had lots of bad title ideas. But we don’t remember any of them. So, we think it may have originally been titled Interrupting Cow.

Okay, I’ll stop there, before I Interrupting Cow.

Blitz Party creates a unique game of Bejeweled Blitz tailored specifically to you and your friend, setting goals that are achievable based on both players’ scores from recent games. When you start a game, you may see that your score goal is a whopping 455,000 or a paltry 125,000. That’s because it’s taking the average scores earned by each player and combining them. So if you invite a friend who tends to dominate your leaderboard to a Party round, your score goal may look kind of intimidating, but it’s not all your responsibility to make that happen! (In fact, let the show-off show off, right?  I’m not bitter over my meager scores, not at all.)

In addition to the score goal, you’ll also see a set of Special Gem goals for your game. Check the Party Meter before you get started, and you can plan out your strategy. If I’m playing with a friend whose scores are way more impressive than mine, I’m going to assume the score goal itself can largely rest on their Bejeweling shoulders, and meanwhile, I’ll focus on meeting the “elite goals” by making as many Flame Gems as possible and keeping an eye out for any chance at a Star Gem or Hypercube. (Besides, I like the word “elite.” It makes me feel special, despite my mediocre scores.)

I know if I just take my time and don't get caught up in speed-matching, I can create six Flame Gems!

Remember that the Mystery Gem boost grants you one special gem at the start of the game, and that special gem does count toward your goals! So select your Boosts with an eye toward advancing your team toward the ultimate achievement: the Perfect Party.

After your game of Bejeweled Blitz, you have a choice to send your friend the invitation or to try again for a better score first. Look at the results: how high did you advance the score on your Team Goal meter? How many special gems did you earn toward the elite goals? Are you satisfied with your contribution toward the team effort, or would you like to try again before sending your friend the invitation?

If you click “Send Score,” your score will be counted officially, and your friend will be notified that it is their turn to play a round with you in Bejeweled Blitz Party! If you click “Try Again,” you will have another shot at earning a higher score for your team. But remember, there’s no going back to that previous score once you hit “Try Again!” (If you fail to hit “Try Again” before time counts down, it’s the same as hitting “Send Score.” Your score will be saved and your invitation sent.)

Each day you visit Bejeweled Blitz, you can initiate one free Blitz Party game with a friend! That game is free for both players to try one round each, and you earn Coins for making certain progress toward the goal, even if you don’t make it all the way. Best of all, you play Bejeweled Blitz with a friend instead of against them, and if you ask me, teamwork makes everything more fun.

In honor of another vastly under-appreciated Normal Day, let’s remember the things that make each day a miracle. Waking up in the morning. Smelling the dog’s fishy breath. Eating creamsicles. Are you with me?

Well, it turns out that not everyone was preparing for Father’s Day last Saturday. Over in Bejeweled Blitz land, one of our laser cats apparently clawed her way into the, um, cookie jar. And, pardon me, but it looks like Snackers may have overindulged.

Have a great Monday!