Diam's
Diam's Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 50 diamond cards (10 series of 5 diamonds)
- 3 forced sale cards
- 1 closing card
- 30 tokens
Setup
Shuffle the diamond cards together with the forced sale cards. Take 15 of these cards, slip the closing card in among them, and shuffle again. Place the remaining 38 cards on top to form a draw pile.
Deal 3 cards to each player (each player looks at their own cards without showing the others).
Turn 3 cards face up on the table (if a forced sale card is drawn during this setup step, discard it and replace it with another card).
Note: If you would like a less random end of the game, place the closing card as the last card of the draw pile.
Playing the Game
The player who most recently gave a diamond as a gift starts the game.
They play the following 3 compulsory phases:
- First, they take 1 card from the draw pile and put it in their hand, OR take 2 cards from the reserve and put them on the market.
- Then they pick up one or more cards from the market (see below), OR secure diamonds in their safe (see below), OR put a diamond from their hand on the market.
- Finally, if they have more than 5 cards in hand, they put the excess cards of their choice on the market.
Then comes the turn of the player to their left, and so on until the end of the round.
Note: If there are no more diamonds on the market, the top 3 cards of the draw pile are immediately taken and placed on the market. If a forced sale card is drawn, it is discarded and replaced.
Acquiring Cards from the Market
To acquire a diamond from the market, the player shows a diamond from their hand and picks up all the diamonds present on the market that have the same quality.
Example: I show a quality 2 diamond from my hand and I pick up all the quality 2 diamonds present on the market (I keep the one I showed).
The player may also put a diamond from their hand on the market and pick up diamonds from the market whose combined quality equals the quality of the diamond they just gave up.
Example: I put a quality 8 diamond on the market and pocket in its place 1 quality 4 diamond and 2 quality 2 diamonds present there — or any other combination adding up to 8.
Securing Diamonds in Your Safe
A player may place a collection of diamonds in their safe, face down. At any time, a player may look at the diamonds located in their own safe.
When they place one or more collections in their safe, they may take the opportunity to complete a collection already present in their safe with one or more suitable diamonds from their hand.
Example: I have a collection of 3 quality 5 diamonds in my safe. This turn, I choose to secure a new collection of 4 quality 7 diamonds. I take the opportunity to add a 4th quality 5 diamond, which I have in hand, to the collection already in place in my safe.
Note: It is possible to secure several collections at the same time, on the same turn. But this remains exceptional, since it requires a player to have 3 diamonds of one quality and 2 diamonds of another single quality, and then to draw a third diamond of that second quality at the start of their turn.
The Forced Sale Cards
There are 3 different forced sale cards. Each can be used as a forced sale or to activate the card's secondary power. They are discarded after use.
Forced Sale: The forced sale is played between phases 1 and 2. The player who triggers a forced sale designates another player and shows a diamond from their hand. The targeted player must put all the diamonds from their hand matching the quality shown onto the market. The player who played the forced sale card is then obliged to pick up those diamonds during phase 2. If the targeted player has no diamond of the quality shown, the player who used the forced sale discards onto the market the card they showed and does not play phase 2.
Sleight of Hand: This power is played in place of phase 2. It allows the player to take 1 diamond of their choice from the market, without needing to show a diamond of the same quality.
Armor-Piercer: This power is played in place of phase 2. The player using the armor-piercer designates a player and states a diamond quality (they may specify whether they are targeting a diamond of exceptional purity, i.e. a card with a magnifying glass). If the targeted player has one or more diamonds of that quality in their safe, they must give one to the player who used the armor-piercer — who puts the diamond in their hand. Otherwise, the armor-piercer has no effect.
Note: A collection that has been reduced remains in the safe, but it earns no points if it contains only 2 cards. The player may however rebuild it by securing new diamonds of that quality.
Quick-Secure: This power is played in place of phase 2. It allows the player to secure one or more diamonds of a quality already present in their safe, without needing to do so when depositing a new collection.
End of the Round
When the closing card is taken into hand or put onto the market, the player who took/played it finishes their turn, then each other player takes one more turn without carrying out phase 1 (if a player has no more cards in hand, they do not play).
Then each player counts the points of the diamonds in their safe. The player who totals the highest sum of the qualities of the diamonds remaining in their hand adds 3 points (in case of a tie, 3 points each). The player with the most cards bearing a magnifying glass in their safe adds 5 points (in case of a tie, 2 points each).
Whoever obtains the highest score gets 4 tokens, the second 3 tokens, the next 2 tokens, the one after that 1 token, and the last 0. In case of a tie in points, the lower number of tokens is used (so the 2 leading players of the round each get 3 tokens).
End of the Game
At the end of the third round, the player with the most tokens wins the game. In case of a tie, the tied players are ranked by their score in the last round.
Note: With 2 players, if a player wins the first 2 rounds, they win the game.
Glossary
Diamond: A card illustrated with a diamond. Its quality is indicated by a number from 1 to 10 (each number corresponds to a diamond color). There are 5 stones of each quality. Some diamonds have exceptional purity: their card features a magnifying glass.
Market: The area in the center of the table that holds cards (3 diamonds are there at the start of the game).
Collection: A series of 3, 4, or 5 diamonds of the same quality (i.e. the same color). A collection earns points, indicated at the bottom of the card, based on how many cards it has. These points increase with the number representing the diamond's quality (a set of four 7s is worth more than a set of four 1s), but quality 8, 9, and 10 diamonds earn few points because they are hard to move.
Safe: The area in front of a player that holds their collections, face down.
Credits
Author: Lionel Borg (atelierjeux.forumactif.net/jeux-de-societe-f2/)
Production and publishing: Franck et Maxime Plasse
Diam's © ReSpell 2011 — www.les12singes.com