Overall, we were quite impressed with the quality of the game. The program's instructions are somewhat vague, but this seems to be in the spirit of allowing users to discover things on their own. As users advance through the game, they earn extra tools and bonuses that can help them. If you can turn the entire board gold before time runs out, you advance to the next level. We've seen this type of puzzle before users must move jewels around to form three in a row, which then disappear and turn their spaces on the board gold. The object of Jewel Island is to solve progressively more difficult puzzles in order to move to different points on a treasure map, eventually reaching the treasure and winning the game.

Jewel Island solves this problem by making puzzle-solving part of a larger journey you're not just solving puzzles for their own sake, but to move to the next step in the search for treasure.

You play them for a while, and they're fun, but eventually they're just not that interesting or challenging. Many puzzle games fall into the trap of becoming repetitive and boring.