Rich Diamond

Posted by Julian Seale.
First posted on 01 August 2009. Last updated on 30 April 2010.
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Rich Diamond
Ice and magma, boulders and arrows—fun for you!
Rich Diamond
It is a battleground in the desert.
Rich Diamond
You will have lots of time to think (or not).
Rich Diamond
Saving your game in times of peril is always a good idea.
Rich Diamond
You must learn to use the environment to your advantage.

If Indiana Jones had a sidekick, it would be none other than Rich Diamond. You are treasure hunter extraordinaire, making your way through elaborate mazes, maneuvering past challenging obstacles, and solving mind stimulating puzzles to collect precious diamonds tantalizing you just beyond your reach. This action, strategy, and adventure all-in-one game will captivate your interests through 80 levels of play, each uniquely different from the other. Mind your step, though; as you travel from lush green terrain to molten lava and venture into the unknown, who knows what dangers may lay ahead to impede your progress. This is a game where time is of the essence, where words fail, and you are left face to face with nature, your wits, and nerves of steel.

Once the game is installed, you can begin your quests through the immersive pseudo 3D world that you view from a top-down isometric perspective. You will notice that the levels of difficulty are grouped together in columns of 10; however, the game only requires you to finish a couple in order to unlock more challenging levels. Your main goal is collecting diamonds, all of which must be in your possession before you are able to take your leave and exit the level. In the beginning, it is no sweat; just dodge a few arrows and maneuver the boulders to block venomous spiders from otherwise fatal injuries. If you can collect all the gems without plummeting to your death or being vaporized by space aliens, then you are home free. Then again, that is merely the beginning; as you advance, you will find yourself manipulating your environment more and more before you can grab any of the diamonds. Luckily, the game has a very relaxed soundtrack to keep your mind off the pain of making a wrong move and still keep you on your toes.

Rich Diamond can be played with a mouse or keyboard (using the arrow keys). A control panel allows you to save your game anywhere on the map. After all, it is just not fair if you start making an elaborate plan for your own safety and suddenly make a wrong turn before making a checkpoint to save your progress. For the competitive players out there, you can gloss over saved games and count your score that indicates how quickly you have passed each level. You will notice your score drops quickly with each step you take and increases slightly as you pick up each diamond. At the end of each level, your performance will be judged by way of diamonds that are color coded: red means try again, you have disgraced yourself; green means you have earned yourself a pat on the back, and blue means you have exceeded the expectations of that level. Still, you do not have to come out fantastic in order to enjoy what the game has up its sleeve—you just need to come out alive.

Rich Diamond is a game that looks to be very simple at first but quickly becomes complex and puzzling (as the developer intends it to be) when the few objects it uses in its system plays multiple roles in solving the different puzzles in a single level. It is difficult to describe abstractly what happens without sounding too technical. For example, an arrow can be the means of your escape, to slaughter bugs, and be a threat to you at the same time. Sometimes, the diamonds are hidden, but those that are visible will be heavily guarded by dangerous creatures. Keep this in mind, because these are predators that do not like you disturbing their natural habitat. You also want to polish up on your timing skills before you do anything else; Indiana Jones has his share of juggling bombs, so does Rich Diamond.

The many levels in Rich Diamond can take weeks to solve. The game is easily mind stimulating for gamers of all ages, and it is ideal for causal gamers. The developer has added further value to the game by implementing extra add-ons and a selection of hints for each level. Rich Diamond also comes with a level editor so you can make your own puzzles and challenges to share with other gamers. Playing Rich Diamond is like playing The Oregon Trail, where you are required to think through each step instead of mindlessly shooting your way through to your ultimate destination.

The only criticism I have for this game is the sometimes slow response of your character to an area that you click on; it may take your character a few to several groaning seconds to move from an area of the map to another. It is also irritating, but quite comical, to watch yourself accidentally click on a monster or on a patch of land where you have no more control over your character to avoid marching to your death. However, you may want to click on certain squares on the map so that your character will do a series of tasks at once rather than a single task at a time. Frequent checkpoint saving will make your gaming life so much easier. Another nuisance, but not a problem you will run into much, is that some of the levels are made up of caves where the diamonds are remotely hidden and placed on a wide floor of ice. At some point in the game, you will learn of certain paths to get to a diamond, but learning new ways to get several diamonds in a maze full of hidden gems is really like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You can spend literally hours searching for a way to get that last gem before you choose to throw in the towel for the level. If you are lucky, however, the pain of victory will feel better than no reward at all.

Notwithstanding some minor annoyances, Rich Diamond is a welcomed puzzle game that will challenge gamers to think logically about what they can do to get what they are looking for and escape. It is a game where, even after you are done with a level, you will always go back for more, because there is always another way to finish it. Richard Diamond is truly a gem of a game in every sense of the word. It is a classic brain teaser, modest in its quiet levels but thought provoking in its puzzles. If you cleverly outwit the game's expectation and end up collecting a lot of blue diamonds, be sure to place your high score in the developer's Rich Diamond website. This way, you can share your glory of beating the game for the world to see.

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