After surviving the giant traffic jam that is Seattle, I arrive at the Triple Door, ready to get my Bejeweled on. I’ve been practicing at home and I can almost get to about half of my wife’s high score, so confidence is high as I wait for the tourney to start.

I stretch out and do mental wind sprints to prepare my mind and my brain for some jewel matching frenzy.

I am wearing a suit in order to intimidate my opponents. They pretend not to notice or care, but I can tell that they are secretly terrified.

As Casual Connect finishes up across the street, the bar begins filling up with casual game creators. I often wonder, if hardcore gamers make fun of casual games, what do casual gamers look down on? I’m guessing Farmville and Minesweeper, but I am too embarrassed to ask.

Dozens of VP’s and Marketing director people pour in. I chat with a few of them to see if they’re prepared to face utter annihilation at my hands, but none of them seem to understand the fury that I am prepared to unleash on these jewels. No amount of suit wearing seems to deter them. Everyone I talk to seems fairly confident in their jewel matching abilities.

The MC for the night lets everyone know what prizes they’re playing for:

1st Prize: iPad

2nd Prize: iPod Touch

3rd Prize: Plants vs Zombies

Like the last lap in F-Zero, you get nothing if you don’t place in the top 3. The top 20 scores are posted on the screen as the event goes on. Before I even get a chance to play my first game, scores are popping up on the board and they are much higher than I was hoping. I’m beginning to think that these CEO’s and executives are not intimidated by my suit. I should have worn the tie.

8 minutes in and the scores are higher than the ones I pretend to get. I realize that the iPad is probably going home with someone else. My new goal is to get into the top 10. I won’t win anything except a small measure of pride and self respect, which is way better than some silly iPad right? Right?

To play in the tournament, you have the choice of either a laptop, an iPhone, or an iPad. Even though I typically do my bejeweling on the PC, I decide to go with the iPad since this is as close as I’m getting to one today.

Right away I am blown away by how easy and fluid the game plays on the iPad. Within 2 seconds, it becomes my preferred jewel matching platform. My fingers are a blur as I match jewel after jewel. I think I even heard one observer make an “ooh” sound. She might have been talking about the ahi tuna, but I like to think it was in recognition of my skillz.

30 seconds in, I actually have a decent score and I’ve got a 4 time multiplier going. I might actually have a shot at winning this thing. Of course, the second I think this, I lose my groove and begin to make stupid mistakes, matching 3 when a 4 match is available. I fail to get my multiplier any higher and my dreams of glory are dashed upon the rocks of failure.

When I look up at the board, I don’t expect much of anything, but lo and behold I have made it into the top 10 at a semi-respectable 8th. I get myself another free coke in celebration and watch to see if my score will remain in the top 10. By the time I am slurping up the last bits of coke I’ve slowly slid down the leader board to 11th. One place away from my goal, which was 7 places away from any sort of prize to begin with.

I knew I should have practiced more when I was supposed to be working. Maybe next time, which might very well be happening sooner rather than later. According to Popcap PR rep Garth Chouteau, Popcap considers this event “a dry run for more real world competitions.”

With more and more of the casual games becoming integrated into social applications like Facebook, the landscape for casual games like Bejeweled is changing. Finding ways to bring people together to challenge each other over what has been pretty much a single player experience offers an entirely different and unique experience. You might not be able to talk your mom into going to a LAN party to play some Halo, but you could probably get her to go to an upscale bar to play some Bejeweled and eat some ahi tuna.

With this changing landscape in mind, Facebook is a core part of the Popcap strategy. The company is working on social versions of all their top franchises. Expect Zuma Blitz to roll out gradually in about 3 weeks. Expect weekly tournaments, new levels, and an experience system that Popcap is hoping can make Zuma Blitz an even bigger success than Bejeweled Blitz, which is a pretty tall order considering there are about 100 million games of Bejeweled Blitz played every single day.

Tags: Bejeweled, bejeweled blitz, Casual Games, Facebook, PC, popcap, Tournament

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