"Jewel Quest II" Tournament Hints

• In the PC matching game "Jewel Quest II," players need to move gems on their board to create chains of three or more of the same color. To advance, turn the entire board gold. Each tile turns gold when a chain is created over it. The game has a tournament mode, where you play against others in a timed battle for the highest score.

Gold Priority

• It's appealing to try and aim for a higher score as fast as possible, but forget about those gold coins and chain bonuses. Your first concern is to make all the tiles on the board gold. Once that's done, you switch to a bonus board where you can earn much larger points bonuses from silver coins.

Bottom Strategy

• The board's bottom and corners are tricky to reach. Focus on those areas first, so you aren't stuck on them later. Make strategic matches between upper tiles so the remaining ones match with tiles on the bottom. This isn't wasted time -- you'll turn many middle tiles gold as you go.

Ignore Your Opponent

• What your opponent is doing doesn't affect you, but paying attention to his score or how many of his tiles have turned gold can be distracting and causes some players to rush. You keep playing whether you win or lose against your opponent, so even though you'll lose points on your overall score, a loss isn't going to keep you from advancing.

The Timer

• Although you are competing against someone else, the timer is your real enemy. When that runs out, it's over. Making chains doesn't earn you extra time like it does in a regular level. If you're taking too long to find a match in one spot, move on to a different area and come back. This is a very high-paced game that leaves little time to wonder about every move.

Special Moves

• In "Tournament" mode, you don't start out with any special moves. But you'll receive one special move each time you make a chain of gold coins. Don't use these hastily. Save them for a time when you're truly stuck. Clearing corners with them is more useful than clearing a middle area.