Match-Three Game as Serious Business. iWin Games' Jewel Quest series follows Adventurer Archaeologist Rupert Pack, an Indiana Jones Expy, on his research as to why so many ancient cultures in the world are obsessed with match-three games. During his travels, Rupert is to meet his soulmate and eventual wife, anthropologist Emma Swimmingly, and repeatedly crosses paths with his professional and romantic rival, the arrogant Gentleman Adventurer Sebastian Grenard.
In Jewel Quest III, Rupert and Emma's daughter Natalie is blinded by fungal spores that she unwittingly released from a Jewel Board, with Rupert, following the clues left by a mysterious person, journeying all over the world for the cure - the Golden Jewel Board. In the fourth game Jewel Quest Heritage, to prove that he is the rightful owner of the Golden Jewelboard and prevent it from being awarded to Sebastian, Rupert has to trace his ancestry to ... Emperor Moctezuma of the Aztecs!
The basic rule of the game is simple: When you match up three identical jewels, the underlying squares turn gold. You have to turn the whole board gold before the timer runs out. Later games add secondary goals and challenges, such as capturing "monkeys" in cages, matching "clock" jewels to refill the super-fast timer, and playing against the computer.
The Jewel Quest series provides examples of:
- The Ace: Rupert. Most of his ancestors are overarchievers as well.
- Cool Old Guy: Rupert's uncle, Percy Pack, who serves as the primary protagonist of Sleepless Star.
- Heel–Face Turn: Sebastian is moved by Natalie's kindness at the end of the third game, but by the fourth game, he goes back to his normal self.
- It Belongs in a Museum: The Golden Jewelboard's secret danger is the premise of the third game.
- Painting the Medium: The first and second games, and to a certain extent, the games after the quadrilogy.
- Jewel Quest 1 and 2 slowly modify the centerpiece for the current area between levels, such as causing Chimalmat to emerge from the Panther Cave or collecting pieces of the Zulu mask in the Cape Town Bazaar.
- Certain actions on the boards in Sleepless Star are punctuated by images of Percy and Yellow Feather, such as climbing a tree to escape a boar in Chapter 4, Board 3.
- Secret Level:
- The Hawaiian Islands in Jewel Quest III, unlocked after completing the game. Though, they are titled as "Super Hard" for a reason.
- If you play level 50 too many times on the version that comes with mobile phones, the developers will eventually punish you for your arrogance by sending you to level 51 which cannot be beat. This is beacuse there are sections of the board that have less than three squares in a row.
- Scenery Porn: Very nice paintings of historic landmarks.