PopCap reinventing Bejeweled in October

PopCap will release the third instalment in the Bejeweled series next month.

Dubbed Bejeweled Twist, the game has apparently been three years in the making. It's said to take the massively popular game in a "totally new direction".

PopCap "refuses to be drawn on the details of the game", according to a press release, and plans to release a full barrage of information for the launch event on 27th October.

"The game will be immediately recognizable to Bejeweled fans, and as accessible as earlier titles in the series, but with far more depth and flexibility," said Jason Kapalka, PopCap boss, eyeing both hardcore and casual wallets.

Bejeweled is the best-selling casual game of this century, raking in around USD 300 million (GBP 150 million) for PopCap.

In the game, players are faced with a screen full of various jewels that must be matched in lines of three or more before they disappear and fresh batches fall in and occupy their place.

This was the basis for the fiendishly addictive DS puzzler Zoo Keeper, which simply replaced jewels with cuddly animals - animals we cannot drive over and break its legs off.