Bejeweled Blitz: Four advanced tips for skilled gem masters

Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook (and iPhone) takes the classic gem-matching game and turns it into a full-fledged competition, by giving players one minute to score as many points as possible. Then, your score is posted to a leaderboard so you can see how your skills stack up to your friends'.

What they don't tell you about this puzzle game is that it's more addictive than crack, chocolate and puppies combined. So for those of you who are already good at the game, but want to take it to the next level, here's four tips from Bejeweled master Cindy 'Julia Gemstone' Roberson that will help you climb to the top of the leaderboard this week (and every week after).

Play the game with sound to get the big scores

Memorize the sounds associated with the moves - especially the sound made when a multiplier is made, and the sound made when a multiplier is matched or exploded. The split second that you hear the sound of a multiplier created, look for a way to match it. Making a move after the multiplier is created without looking for a match can cost you the opportunity to match it. The game is designed to help create a match within zero to three moves after it is created.

If you hear the sound made when a multiplier gem is created immediately followed by the sound made when it is matched, the concentration on your moves does not have to be interrupted to look for a multiplier match.