Jewel Quest named Best Mobile Game 2005 by Jamster
Illustrates market's desire for "one-thumb, instant fun quality games," says I-play.
I-play's Jewel Quest has been named "Best Mobile Game 2005" by the Jamster mobile games portal.
The game, an archaeology themed reworking of classic puzzle game Bejeweled, was developed by iWin and published by I-play in July 2005.
Since its release, Jewel Quest has become one of I-play's most popular titles, regularly topping the charts, and is currently available on more than 215 mobile devices in over 80 countries according to I-play.
The Jamba site (known as Jamster outside Germany) awarded the game the portal's Goldener Zockerdaumen (Golden Gamer's thumb), and praised its ease of use and absorbing gameplay.
The web version of the game was also a finalist for the 2004 Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards "Downloadable Game of the Year" prize.
The basic theme - swapping adjacent icons on a square grid to create groups of three identical icons, which then vanish to allow the icons from above to drop down and change the layout of the grid - has also proved extremely popular on other formats. Nintendo DS title Zookeeper, published by Ignition Entertainment, is one of the most highly rated puzzle games on the handheld format.
I-play's Senior VP of Publishing and Marketing Paul Maglione argued that the award demonstrated the market's desire to play simple games.
"As it continues to go from strength to strength, it confirms - as does this award - that one-thumb, instant fun quality games are what the market really wants," he said in a statement acknowledging the award.