PopCap Games, makers of games like Peggle and Zuma, announced today that they are donating the first 500 retail versions of Bejeweled Twist — the newest installment in PopCap’s most popular franchise — to the non-profit Games for Soldiers. GFS will in turn deliver the boxed games to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan in late November. You may know that past versions of the series have been huge successes on the Internet, but they were also popular in the barracks. And now PopCap is getting Twist to the GI’s just in time for the holidays.

At first glance, the idea of a platoon of infantrymen sitting around a PC fighting for a turn to play Bejeweled seems a little odd. I imagine a Lance Corporal pulling rank to get a turn and defend his record score. Still, according to GFS’s creator, SPC Jesse Williams, the games are a very welcome distraction to the soldiers’ high stress environments. Plus, the GI’s requested the game specifically. So we’re glad to see the gaming industry doing its part to help the boys overseas. So long as I stay atop the leaderboards, you’ll get no griping from me.