Diamant

There is something addictive about taking a risk when the potential rewards can be so so great, and if there are other people there watching. Diamant, or Incan Gold as it is also known, is a push your luck game where you are trying to stay in a cave full of goodies longer than anyone else. If you do, the rewards can be plentiful, but of course there is no pleasure without pain.

This particular version comes with great components, cardboard chests to store your gems in, the gems themselves and meeples to represent you on your journey. Over the course of the game you will delve into five caves card by card, each card revealing some sort of treasure or trap. Treasure will be split evenly among all adventurers still in the cave, and traps are nothing to worry about, at least the first time you encounter one. However, if the same trap should come up again anyone ‘still in’ the cave is out with no treasure.

The trick then is to leave the cave at the optimal moment. Before the next cave card is revealed you must decide whether to depart with your treasure earned so far, and potentially pick up more on the way out, or push on to potentially further riches.

Diamant is fun, fast, funny and easy to learn, making it perfect fodder for all sorts of people and games nights. While the game is heavily luck-based, because it’s up to you to decide when to proceed and when to run away, the game tempts you in both directions with clever elements that can make both rewarding under the right circumstances. Of course, reading and bluffing the other players is a huge part of the fun too, agreeing to carry on into the cave before turn tail and getting out of there can be hilarious.

So, while Diamant is a ‘one trick pony’ the trick never outstays it’s welcome and provides genuine laughs and enjoyment - what more could you ask for?

Player Count: 3-8
Time: 30 Minutes
Age: 8+