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Block Out Time for Jewel Quest 2

Geoff Duncan
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There are casual games that you can take or leave, which are great for filling minutes while waiting for Bob to get back from that important meeting or while you’re on hold hearing “Your call is important to us! Please wait for the next available representative.” Then there are casual games, the kind you launch, think, “Oh, hey, that’s kinda neat…” and suddenly its dark outside, your clothes are getting that overly lived-in smell to them, and your friends and family have begun filing missing persons reports on you.

For many people, iWin‘s award-winning Jewel Quest matching game falls into the latter category, and it’s undeniably one of the most successful and well-known puzzle games on the market today. And tomorrow, iWin is launching Jewel Quest 2 simultaneously in retail outlets, online, and for mobile platforms.

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Jewel Quest 2 takes players to Africa with Rupert Jack and three new characters and they try to unravel the secrets of the game’s perplexing gold boards. The game includes includes 144 new layouts which take gamers through 180 puzzles with different configurations which enable varying levels of engagement and sophistication. The new edition also features new sounds, graphics, power-ups, and a brand new music score, along with a tournament mode which puts player against each other. And we’re sure Microsoft wants you to know that, for the ultimate Jewel Quest experience, Jewel Quest 2 is a Vista launch title which leverages Vista’s new graphics capabilities, and it’s compatible with the Xbox 360 controller.

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“Jewel Quest is our flagship title and we are proud to herald in the next era of casual games with the release of its long-awaited sequel,” said C.J. Wolf, CEO of iWin. “Our simultaneous launch proves the power of casual games as an entertainment medium, especially when we can partner with Microsoft and I-play—leading players in computers and mobile entertainment—to put our top brand in the hands of a broad audience wherever and whenever they’d like to play it.”

Jewel Quest 2 will be available February 9 for download at iWin.com and all other major game portals. The game is also available for purchase on CD-ROM at major retailers and I-play‘s mobile version is available on major cellular carriers. Jewel Quest 2 leverages Windows Vista, but it’ll run on anything from Windows 98 on up. We’d offer the game’s suggest pricing, but iWin isn’t saying, and preliminary information from retailers is surprisingly variable.

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Geoff Duncan
Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
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