by idlemichael
I was a little bit reticent about reviewing Diamant what with it not being in print any more. Of course, it has been redesigned and reissued by Funagain, Sunriver and most recently Gryphon Games under the guise of Incan Gold but for me the original is king. Originally released back in 2005, Diamant was the brainchild of two of the greats of game design in recent years; Alan R. Moon and Bruno Faidutti. Between them they have created classics like Ticket to Ride and Citadels - Faidutti is also responsible for one of my all-time favourite games, the excellent Mission: Red Planet. Surely a collaboration between two of the better game designers of recent years would be a winner, yes?
Thankfully, yes, it is. While Diamant is a very simple game, it is extremely entertaining and a lot of fun to play. Between two and eight players are given a very simple task: collect more diamonds than your opponents. The game is split into five rounds, each one representing a visit to an underground cave. The players are explorers, venturing deep underground in a bid to become wealthy - however, the mine’s previous owners have very different ideas. Turns begin with a card being drawn and placed face up in the middle of the table. Numbered cards (between 1 and 17) are good - the diamonds (which are only plastic, but still look brilliant!) are divided between the players still in the round at the time, and any remainders are left on the card. After each card has been drawn and the loot shared out, players are given a choice - do they wish to continue further into the mine, or do they want to leave? Your selection is made with your Indiana Jones-esque meeple - secrete it in your hand and you leave (sharing any diamonds on the track with other escapees). If you do leave, all diamonds you collected in that round are placed into your treasure chest and you take no further action. An empty hand means you press on in search of further riches - but as mentioned above there are some little presents left behind.
Shuffled into the card deck are a series of hazards - three cards of five different types such as poison gas traps, giant scorpions and explosions. While those staying in the cave may well get a bigger share of the diamonds, they may also run into these hazards, and if a matching pair appear on the track, the round is over. Any players who didn’t run away leave the cave with nothing, having pushed their luck just a little too far this time. Thankfully, as the game consists of five rounds there’s always plenty of opportunity to catch up with others. As the game progresses, players who are lagging behind will find themselves taking more risks in the hope they’ll turn up that elusive 17 card (and keep it all to themselves!) - however, when there’s a plenty of dangers already on the track, the chances of the round coming to an abrupt end get higher and higher. And there lies the big draw of the game - how far do you press your luck? Do you keep pressing further and chance losing everything or leave early with a guaranteed (but invariably smaller) amount of gems?
Diamant is one of those games that (although it plays well with a few people) is definitely a case of the more the merrier. My copy is pretty much wrecked (surely the sign of a good game!) thanks to it getting thrown around and played a few times a week with the kids at school - they jeer at the early quitters, cheer on the brave and bold classmates who choose to keep going and yell madly when a second rockfall card comes out, ruining their chances of actually beating someone who played smart and left with a mere handful of prizes.
To summarise, I love Diamant, but please don’t think that Incan Gold is a poor replacement. It is, in fact, exactly the same premise - only the theme and pieces are different. There’s still the same element of pushing-your-luck while keeping an eye out on your opponents’ totals, but... well, Diamant is just so shiny. The jewels, the little Indy-meeples - everything comes together thematically to really enhance the game. If you really want to play it (and I really do recommend you do), go for a copy of the remake; however, if you’re patient I’d say check out the boardgamegeek marketplace or even hunt around on Amazon.de and get yourself a copy of the original and best.
This review is taken from The Little Metal Dog Show - the UK's newest boardgames blog and podcast. Find it at http://littlemetaldog.wordpress.com - thanks for reading!"
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