Zynga Welcomes New 'Bejeweled' Member To Its 'With Friends' Family

Zynga has recently found itself on the receiving end of a copyright lawsuit, filed by EA over its alleged The Sims Social clone The Ville. But the social gaming giant is clearly not hampered with regard to its other titles. Just yesterday, Zynga has welcomed a new member to its “With Friends” family of iOS games. Not content with Matching With Friends, Scramble With Friends, Hanging With Friends, Chess With Friends, and Words With Friends, Zynga is now introducing Gems With Friends. According to Zynga, Gems With Friends is “an all-new, fast-paced social puzzle game that is easy to learn and difficult to master.” I don’t know about you, but if I had a dollar every time I encountered the phrase “easy to learn and difficult to master” in a game’s description, I’d have enough money to bid on this so-called collector’s item. Kidding aside, Gems With Friends does call for “a mix of clever planning and lightning reflexes.” Itself a mix of PopCap’s Bejeweled and Zynga’s own Matching With Friends, Gems With Friends requires you to match gems in order to get a high score. Of course, it wouldn’t be a “With Friends” title if it didn’t require you to go against your friends. Also, it wouldn’t be a Zynga release if it didn’t offer in-app purchases. So, expect to deal with some sort of currency that you can amass by playing continuously or simply visiting the in-game store. The game’s key features are as follows:

Arcade gameplay that challenges your speed and strategy

Simple, fun drag-and-drop controls

Super polished art with over the top effects

Amazing power-ups to supercharge your scores

Play FAST to collect Stars and earn extra points

Or play SMART to set up chain combos to multiply your score

Gems with Friends is currently available only in the Canadian App Store, where Zynga does most of its beta testing for its iOS releases. The game is expected to be released to the rest of the App Store world in the next few weeks. Are you looking forward to playing Gems With Friends with your friends?