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London, 1899: in the renowned Diamonds Club meet four successful gemstone dealers in an ambitious competition: they want to equip magnificently their country estates -- with the profit made from the gemstone trade. To do that, they invest their money in mines, mining rights and the latest technologies. The player who has the most valuable park at the end of the game is the Lord of Diamonds!
The goal of the game is to build a magnificent park with many (different) attractions. The game ends, when the first player completes his or her park. Then victory points are scored based on the contents of the parks, technology advancements and achievements gained during the game. The player with the most victory points wins the game.
Diamonds Club is played in turns until the end condition is met by the first player. Each turn is divided into different phases. In the first phase players take turns placing coins on a central board to gain several benefits: mines, ships and prospector rights to gain gemstones, technology advancements or wildlife park attractions for the own park.
To gain the benefit of a square you have to place one coin plus the sum of all vertical and horizontal placed coins. So as the players take turns, the available benefits grow more and more expensive.
Once every player has passed, the players may change a combination of ship, prospector rights and mine into as many gemstones as the lowest value on all of the counters depicts.
In the final phase the players can buy new attractions for their park using the earned gemstones.
As mentioned above, there are several achievements, for example to be the first player having 5 equal attractions, or a special combination of attractions. Those score later extra points for the player who won this. Also, there are several technologies, which could raise the value of woods in the park, increase the gemstone income of the player or increases the number of coins available each round for the player. On the higher levels those technologies also score additional points in the final scoring.
Diamonds Club - Playing With Friends
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the best time to do it was January 1st 2025 it seemed like a good breakoff point
- the second best time to do something is maybe yesterday the second best time to do something is now
- I’m hoping to do more live stuff ... connecting with people
- I am hoping to do more live I I want to do even just a little bit more live stuff to connect with people
References (from this video)
- neat action selection system
- asymmetric halos requiring specific buildings on spots
- high interaction and dynamic jockeying
- strong production and theme
- flexible diamonds/gems mechanic and hats for turn order
- set collection and tile-building scoring system
- balanced dynamics in 3-player sessions
- animals as scoring elements feel weak
- tree strategy discussed as potentially broken in some play paths
- contracts can be stingy in certain rounds
- two-player games not considered ideal; three or four players recommended
- the game has many rules/phases which can feel dense
- competition to become president of the Diamonds Club by trading gems and building a park
- 1899 New Year's Eve in London (with foggy, notable park/building context)
- Marvel vs Capcom
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action grid with adjacency costs — Players place actions on a grid; base cost is one coin, and each orthogonally adjacent already-purchased space increases the cost by one.
- asymmetric building placement — Players have to place specific buildings on specific spots (halos) to score; misplacing can prevent victory.
- End Game Bonuses — The game ends when light-green spaces are filled; scoring includes sets, types, and bonus tiles.
- end-game and scoring bonuses — The game ends when light-green spaces are filled; scoring includes sets, types, and bonus tiles.
- gems > contracts > boats > buildings scoring chain — Gems mined are turned into contracts and ships (boats), which then feed into buildings and parks for scoring points.
- hat track and turn order — Top hats on a track influence who is next and who receives diamonds; diamonds are used as wild resources in payouts.
- multi-phase rounds — Each round has five phases (market setup, income, action purchase, gem acquisition, building) and can vary in length.
- Variable Phase Order — Each round has five phases (market setup, income, action purchase, gem acquisition, building) and can vary in length.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a game I bought specifically because Taylor recommended it to me
- we all have asymmetric Halos on these spots
- diamonds are wild
- forests are broken
- the Marvel versus Capcom of worker placement
- I love the production and I love the theme
References (from this video)
- tight, streamlined action flow
- clever end-game trigger via last tile and park completion
- older design; may be hard to find a copy
- gem trading, park-building, end-game tile completion
- London gem dealers building a park in 1899
- elegant, strategic
- Arboretum
- Istanbul
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- market/inventory management — coins, ships, and mining-related resources influence tile choices
- Resource Management — coins, ships, and mining rights influence tile acquisition
- tile placement / park-building — place tiles to assemble a personal park board
- tile placement / set collection — players place tiles to build their park with different gem-related bonuses
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Rebel Princess is fantastic.
- The premise is it's kind of like a slight social deduction setting.
- it's a tableau building game
- the end-game via last tile is clever
- the cutest little game
- Dune Imperium is my number one
- hidden roles add tension and intrigue
- the eight rounds
- tiles and shared space create intense competition