Nokia and PopCap team up for Bejeweled LIVE+ exclusively for Lumia users

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

Nokia has done it again this week by bringing yet another Xbox game to its dedicated Lumia users. This time around it’s PopCap’s turn with an updated and dare we say nicely done implementation of Bejeweled Live+.

For those curious, it’s the “+” that makes this different than the current Bejeweled Live app on the Windows Phone Store. With that name change comes an extra two levels (Butterfly and Zen mode) and updated graphics.

From the app description:

"The biggest, brightest Bejeweled ever on the Windows Phone! Discover all-new ways to play the world’s #1 puzzle game.  Find your perfect match with 5 game modes now available on the Windows Phone! Classic, Diamond mine, Lightning, Butterfly and Zen modes that meet all your moods!"

  • Show off your scores to your friends on the Xbox LIVE Leaderboards! 
  • Put your skills to the test and unlock the 20 new Achievements! 
  • Engage in endless gem-matching fun with beautiful graphics, amazing sights and sounds — Bejeweled is more sparkling than ever!

Indeed we had a tough time writing this article due to the addictive nature of Bejeweled, the super poplar gem-switcheroo game that has taken the world by storm. Sure it’s not exactly a new phenomenon but it’s still a fun game to play on the go.

The game is not free for Lumia users, which means you’ll need to pony up $2.99 to keep it, though of course you get a free trial to give a spin beforehand.

Lumia users on Windows Phone 7.x and 8 can grab the game here in the Nokia Collection. Thanks, Ben R., for the heads up!

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Executive Editor

Daniel Rubino is the Executive Editor of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft here since 2007, back when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and arguing with people on the internet.

67 Comments
  • I don't care much for phone games, but oh my do I love Bejeweled. BOUGHT!
  • So these are different achievements?
  • Different game, different achievements. They ultimately may be the same type, but they will register as new.
  • Here are the cheevos for this. http://www.trueachievements.com/game.aspx?gameid=4680 From the looks of the cheevos glad it doesn't have a grindy collect 1 million gems like Bejeweled LIVE did.
  • woohoo! Now if only they would add Bejeweled BLITZ support...
  • Seems as if there is no more 'Wednesday release' schedule like there used to be. Games just pop in the marketplace when they are ready. Which is a good thing. I hope XBLA follows suit some day.
  • Were the Nokia games and apps always released on Wednesday? I know XBL ones were.
  • No, Nokia games were never tied to Wednesdays. They don't count as an individual week's Xbox WP release, either, s maybe we'll still get a game this week.
  • Ah, maybe it just feels that way because Nokia games are all I see these days. :)
  • Don't get the fascination with this game, as the franchise (can we even call it that?) is almost 12 years old, and these games aren't exactly open to new storylines or such.
  • Try the Zen Mode. It's a beautiful gaming experience.
  • That kind of games is, imho, not about the storyline. It's about a simple, yet catching gaming experience. Not everyone wants or needs a story to be told when playing, some just want to keep themselves busy during e. g. a short train trip.
  • The only game mode I can stand these days is Blitz in which you play one minute rounds and which always shows you the success of Bejeweled Blitz playing Facebook friends so you can kind of like compete with them.
     
    Too bad on mobile this mode is only available for iPhone and iPad. Like there is a law prohibiting Windows Phone from contacting Facebook for gamesy stuff.
  • The thing I hate about WP is games like this are expensive comapred to similar free games on android/iOS ... I am not saying $2.99 is expensive (it could be for some people in some parts of the world) but to compete against those OS WP has to offer same or better for less. I am not trolling, I am a happy Lumia user.
  • Agreed, WP needs to start competing on all fronts.
  • You are right. Compare it to a free game like Guns 4 Hire. I would gladly pay $2.99 for that. Bejeweled should be $.99 at most.
  • Well, its not always terrible. Most games that are free on other platforms feature a completely working trial. But they should rename the buttons to "Ad-supported" and "Ad free" (or something similar). Right now people think they need to pay to play all the maps, but you can just play them anyways.
    Also i would like to get rid of the "Share" button thats always there. Who uses that anyways?
  • Well trials are for just one time download, if you uninstall it once, you cannot download as a trial again....
    The question is not about how cheap or expensive an app is... but to compete against the established platforms,  MS has to offer more games and apps that are available in free/ad supported form as well as paid apps. The trial app does not have any specific definition either... some trials work forever and some are time limited which means trial is not supposed to replace the free/ad supported versions, rather it just gives you the preview of the app before you can decide to buy it....
    if attracting devs is a problem thn MS should start something like what Blackberry does, guaranteed 10000$ or MS pays the difference.... since MS has so much money and cash on hand rightnow, this is the time to implement such a scheme before it is too late..... 
    particularly I am worried about blackberry. The platform launched with 70k apps which is amazing for a new OS. I am aware most of them were ported from android apps, but even that is a reason to worry because now they have an opportunity of putting around 700,000 apps in balckberry world... Under no circumstances MS can allow blackberry world to grow at speed faster than the MS store as it will just degrade the MS brand even more and will give even more reaons to trolls for trolling... just imagine responses of android fanboys and iSheeps when some tech site posts that BB world reaches 200,000 apps faster than WP although it launched two years after WP....
  • Biggest issue about those "ports" though is they are generally poor performance wise, and of course UI is not designed with BB10 UI at all.
  • You can totally reinstall a trial.
  • I agree, most of the XBox games are not competively priced when comparing to iOS and Android; but there are even some popular games on Symbian that I think are overpriced :)
     
    I tried the trial for Bejeweled several weeks ago - trial was short, and that game is not worth $4.99 of my dough; but $1.99/$2.99 will do.  I'm gonna give a whirl...GO!
  • There are less users. Devs need to charge more to make developing for WP worth it. The prices cannot be lowered until everyone sucks it up and forks out the extra dollar, until there are enough WP users to justify .99$ apps. Come on guys, complaining over a dollar?
  • No we are complaining about the 3, 5, or even more dollars for a typical WP app. Sure monetizing an app is different on a platform which is not widely used. But charging 3 times the "standard price for apps" is not going to help you as this fends off people from buying an app who would have done it if you had a 1 dollar price point.
  • ^This
    It's basic grammar school supply and demand economics. Less buyers means higher selling price.
    Also can people stop demanding that MS "force" game producers to charge a specific price for their apps? MS made WP8 more port friendly and has been providing financial incentives (where it makes sense) since WP7 launched.
    If something is up your alley you'll gladly pay for it. But if its something your only mildly interested in just move on instead of bitching about "bad pricing".
  • There is a good clone for free.
  • Its about time hope it hits all phones soon
  • Amazing that Nokia scores all these exclusives and firsts. I'd really love it if they could win over devs for apps that Windows Phone owners and potential owners actually cry out for, like Instagram.
  • Awesome PopCap is the best and this game with xbox live support is well worth it!
  • Another week. Another game. I am loving it!  I am actually building a decent backlog of games on my phone. I have backlogs on Steam and now on my phone too! Thank you Nokia!
  • So glad these extra modes have finally come to Windows Phone. A full version of Bejeweled was one of the last missing gaps for me. A little disappointed they didn't throw Blitz in there though.
  • Fantastic!  One of the few games I miss from my iPad.
  • I only wish PopCap would update Plants vs. Zombies and give it some WP8 support. They haven't updated that thing since the early days of WP7 and it is literally one of the best games money can buy.
  • +1
  • The GUI actually looks slightly worse than the normal Bejeweled Live, particularly the score and level displays. And, speaking of the normal Bejeweled Live, it'd be nice if this new version was discounted for people who already bought it (like me). Still, no-one makes gaming crack like PopCap. Guess I'll be slamming some more digital dough on the WP Store counter.
  • Also, between this, Sparkle, The Path of Kara and Where's My Water?, I think I'm pretty much set for life for puzzle games.
  • I'm going to wait for this to become free, and me too I would LOVE blitz to come
  • There's no reason to believe any Xbox WP game will ever switch from paid to free status. The few instances of a game going free were the results of temporary WP Store glitches.
  • Don't knock temporary WP store glitches!! I've got a lot of games that way lol
  • I got Assasins Creed and that worm guy game because of the glitch. Though, in a grand scheme of things, I usually end up buying them.
     
    If we keep getting things for free, we will lose these minority developers supporting WP too :( Can't let that happen.
  • I can play Bejeweled all day every day. Other phone games are optional but Bejeweled should be on every phone.
  • Ugh they really need to release Bejeweled Blitz on windows phone! That is one of the only reasons I use my wife's iPad and wish they would release it for other smart phones.
  • Got sick of this game in Facebook because there are too many cheaters hacking the game raking up scores like 90 million... On a Lumia, maybe i will give it a shot. 
  • As an HTC owner I'm constantly bummed by the Nokia exclusives :(
  • I'm bummed by these games we keep getting, where are the great games I don't want no more puzzles or simple ish, where is harvest for wp8, GTA, COD, I play a decent amount of games on my phone there are so few I've played nearly all of em and these droughts so l Nokia has been promising us this and that since before the 900 yet no real "WOW" games blackberry will lap us in a month or two at our rate
  • High Five for GTA. I want that game on windows phone badly. 
  • Cool - one of my favorites!
  • wish they make it free for one day :)
  • Has this HD screen support?
  • Still waiting for Real Racing 2. Cmon Nokia!
  • I've paid 4,99 for Bejeweled and since it's release it hasn't been updated once. Doesn't even support fast app switching. Won't waste my money on their games again.
  • Okay, I have been addicted to the original and after playing the trial I bought this... Shame on me :(
    At least this has many modes, plus medals and fast app switching.
  • I agree that I bought the original and noticed the lack of updates. I bought it (as did my wife) with the assumption that eventually blitz would be added to it but we all know the outcome of that now.
  • Another nice move from Nokia. I'm glad that they keep on improving the app selection as MS clearly does not give a damn atm. I wonder what games they are going to release in the near future.
  • As long as Bejeweled Blitz is not available it's a fail.
  • £2.29. No thanks
  • Nokia also added PopCap's Zuma's Revenge and EA's Yahtzee.. both for the same price..
  • Yea Nokia stepping it up again. Need Real Racing and Madden. And Peggle would be the best. I'd pay $10 for that. You guys can complain about the price forever, but its not going to change in the near future. Be happy the games are showing up. If you can't afford a $5 or even a $7 game once a week then that sucks.
  • Yep i just came here to post that! 3 new games from Nokia in one day. Zuma and bejeweled will probably get a buy from me. Although i dislike the price hike over my iPad games i want to support game releases on the platform!
  • Cool, but wish Candy Crush came to WP8 instead.  Popcap probably didn't expect it taking over its throne of the match three genre.
  • How long is this exclusive only policy going to on? I understand if the software is for the phones functions but not restricting games and popular apps for certain phones. I bought the ativ s for many reasons over the lumia 920, please dont restrict good popular games for nokia phones only. This is wrong!
  • I suppose Nokia's willing to stump up the cash for exclusives and to tempt devs porting the app/game in the first place which seems fair to me.  One of the reasons why I went from HTC to Nokia.
  • I effing love bejewled myself, been waiting for a wp version forever!! Thanks Nokia
  • Downloaded last night, thanks for the heads up guys. I love the lightning mode, but the diamond dig is fantastic! Nice variety of modes included. Worth noting that this drains my 920 pretty quick, and the back gets white hot. I haven't felt it this hot since launch...
  • hmm, seems nokia allows download of xap from web page,
    http://www.windowsphone.com/en-gb/store/app/bejeweled-live/f0e9779c-54d6...
    i just 'sideloaded' it on my htc mozart and it plays fine, it also allows me to purchase it...
    tip for ya ;-)
  • So instead of updating the 2 year old Bejewed like on every other platform they added a + and want more money. Anoying
     
  • Yeah... a HD Bejeweled would have been nice...
  • I have played this for 50 hours now with my L800 , I regret nothing