Facebook Game Faceoff: Bejeweled Blitz vs Diamond Dash

Either way you look at it, you're still blowing up valuable rocks. Welcome back to Facebook Game Faceoff, where we pit two similar Facebook games against each other, and leave it up to you to decide the ultimate winner. In one corner, we have PopCap's Bejeweled Blitz, a social interpretation of the classic casual game where players must destroy as many gems as possible in 60 seconds. In the other corner stands Diamond Dash, Wooga's take on the gem-bashing puzzle genre that focuses more on goofy elemental power-ups, but keeps true to its inspirations.

We'll chalk up each game to three criteria. First, we'll compare each games play style, as destroying gems in each is slightly different. Second is friend interaction, which is pretty vital to such competitive games. And finally, of course, the power-ups (and explosions)--you know, the flashy light show we all come for? Ready ... fight!

How Do You Bash Gems?
Bejeweled Blitz requires players to shift gems in order to match them, and thus blow 'em up. This creates a dynamic where you need not only be fast, but think about positioning and movement at the same time. Players can either click and drag gems or simply click the first gem and the second to switch their positions. Because of how the game works, skilled players look one step ahead of whatever gems they're bashing in hopes of creating chain reactions for major points.

In Diamond Dash, all players need to do is click sections of three or more identical gems to cause them to explode. This of course leads to more gems falling in their place, hopefully in big chunks of colors. This leads to extremely fast gameplay, and most of the game's focus is on speed, but we'll get into that later. However, there isn't much room for on-the-fly plotting or much strategy, though some players just want to click things ... really fast.

Oh, So You Wanna Talk Trash?
PopCap's gem basher has leader boards that update weekly in tournaments for all of your friends to see how awesomely (or terribly) you're doing. But then you can rummage through your friends' statistics like how may badges they've earned at each point rank and how their performance compares to your own. But Bejeweled Blitz has an interesting feature called Jewel Jabber, where players can send each other custom messages with matching avatars through the News Feed.

Leader boards are of course include in Diamond Dash, and they too update weekly with new tournaments. And while the stat breakdowns for this game aren't as deep (nor is the friend interaction), there is one cool feature to speak of. It's the challenge, a feature that pits you against the score of the friend who is ranked just above you, and provides you with a score bonus when playing. This allows you a sliver of a chance to catch up to say, this guy that has over 400 thousand points on me.

We're Going to Pump ... You Up!
Bejeweled Blitz has a list of power-ups that players can buy before each session with Coins. These include explosive ones like Detonator, which destroys every power gem on the board at once, or Scrambler, a power that, well, scrambles the gems on the board. Not to mention the things that can happen while playing a standard game--join five gems together and watch the sparks fly. But nothing can top the almighty Cat's Eye Gem, a secret that only unlocks after you reach a certain score. This fierce feline will boost your score through the roof as it blasts the entire board with its laser eyes.

Diamond Dash, on the other hand, offers players new power-ups as they level up, the first of which being an ability that you activate through raw speed. Once you destroy enough gems in quick succession, the board will set ablaze, increasing points for as long as you can keep it going. Later on, you'll unlock a meter that, as you speedily blow up gems, will fill until it reaches a massive Magic Diamond. Once it does, it'll turn a single gem into a Magic Diamond. There are a few possibilities for Magic Diamonds, but the coolest is by far flaming gems that when clicked send a ball of fire crashing through an entire column of gems.

Each game offers blazing fast gem-crushing gameplay that can't be matched by any game other than, well, each other. While Bejeweled Blitz focuses on quirky power-ups and slightly cerebral puzzle solving (for advanced players), Diamond Dash is all about speed and watching the board come to life with fire and sparkly explosions. Both games offer compelling reasons to stay, but ultimately it's Bejeweled Blitz that keeps us around for its depth of friend interaction and insane laser-eyed cats. Now, we want you to be the ones who decide which is the best.

Bejeweled Blitz vs Diamond Dash: Who is the winner?online survey

Have anything to add about either of the contenders? Ready for some good old trash talkin'? Share with us in the comments. Add Comment