Game Objective: The Diamond Hunt in Tacora Cave!
Prepare your torches and sharpen your courage, adventurer! In Diamant, you and your friends will embark on an exciting expedition through the legendary Tacora Cave, a place full of sparkling diamonds, but also treacherous traps. Your objective is simple, yet challenging: be the most cunning and courageous explorer, accumulating the most diamonds in your chest before the expedition ends!
With each step, you'll have to decide: venture deeper into the cave in search of even greater treasures, risking falling into a trap and losing everything, or prudently return to camp to secure your precious findings? The player with the most diamonds in their chest at the end of the five rounds will be declared the grand winner and the richest explorer of Tacora Cave!
Setup: Preparing Your Expedition
Before diving into the depths of Tacora Cave, let's set up the table and prepare everything for the adventure:
- Game Board: Place the game board in the center of the table. It represents your camp and the five entrances to Tacora Cave.
- Barricades: Position each barricade piece in front of the corresponding cave entrance, next to the board. They are numbered 1 to 5 and will be used to mark the progress of the rounds.
- Gems: Separate the Rubies (value 1) and Diamonds (value 5) and place them near the board, forming the gem reserve. Remember: only Rubies are found in the cave, but you can exchange 5 Rubies for 1 Diamond at any time!
- Expedition Cards: Shuffle all Expedition Cards (Treasure Cards, Trap Cards, and Relic Cards) and form a face-down deck in the indicated space on the board.
- Choose Your Explorer: Each player chooses a color and takes the corresponding Chest and Explorer Miniature. Assemble your Chest following the instructions and place your Explorer Miniature in a visible spot for everyone.
- Decision Cards: Each player receives a "Continue" Decision Card and a "Leave" Decision Card.
The Game Turn: Venture or Flee!
The game unfolds in 5 rounds, each corresponding to a cave entrance. Each round is a sequence of exciting decisions:
Expedition Card Revelation Phase
At the beginning of a round or after players' decisions, the first action is to flip the top card of the Expedition Cards deck and place it face-up in the middle of the table. What did you find?
- Treasure Card: Congratulations! You found Rubies. Take the number of Rubies indicated on the card from the gem reserve. Share these Rubies equally among all players still in the cave. Any remaining Rubies are placed on the Treasure Card itself. Attention: The Rubies you collect during the expedition are placed next to your Chest and can be lost! They will only be safe when you return to camp.
- Trap Card: Beware! If a trap appears for the first time in this expedition (this round), nothing happens and the expedition continues. However, if the same trap is revealed a second time, all players still in the cave must immediately return to camp empty-handed, abandoning all their treasures! One of the two identical Trap Cards is removed from the game, and the other is placed back into the Expedition Cards deck. The expedition ends immediately.
- Relic Card: A Relic! The card remains on the cave path and nothing happens for now. The value of Relics depends on when they are taken from the cave.
Player Decision Phase
Before a new Expedition Card is revealed, each player still in the cave must make a crucial decision: continue the expedition and delve deeper, or return to camp to safely store their treasures.
To do this, take your two Decision Cards ("Continue" and "Leave"). Choose one and place it face-down in front of you. When everyone is ready, reveal your cards simultaneously!
- "Continue": You decide to move forward, in search of more treasures and glory!
- "Leave": You decide to return to camp and proceed as follows:
- Place your Explorer Miniature in the camp so everyone knows you have returned.
- On the way out of the cave, collect all Rubies that were left on the Treasure Cards. If multiple players are leaving at the same time, they share all remaining Rubies equally. If there are still Rubies left after that, leave them in the cave on any Treasure Card.
- If multiple players are leaving at the same time, no one takes the Relic Cards. However, if only one player leaves, they take all Relics that are in the cave, which will earn them Diamonds as follows:
- The first 3 Relics to leave the cave are worth 5 Rubies (1 Diamond) each.
- Subsequent Relics are worth 10 Rubies (2 Diamonds) each.
- Place all Rubies you collected during the expedition into your Chest. Everything in your Chest is safe until the end of the game.
After all players have made their decision, a new Expedition Card is revealed, extending the path into the cave.
End of a Round
An expedition (round) ends when all players return to camp or when the same Trap appears twice in the cave. To continue to the next round:
- Place a barricade piece on the board to close the cave entrance corresponding to the round that just ended.
- If there are still Rubies on the Treasure Cards, return them to the reserve.
- Remove all Relic Cards from the game that are still in the cave at the end of the expedition.
- Remove the second identical Trap Card from the game if the expedition fell into its trap.
- Shuffle all revealed Expedition Cards back into the deck to form a new deck.
A new round begins by flipping the top card of the Expedition deck.
End of Game and Scoring: Who is the Master of the Cave?
The game ends when the last barricade piece is placed at the fifth cave entrance. It's time to count your treasures!
Each player counts the gems they placed in their Chest, as well as those on the Relic Cards they collected, and converts them into victory points:
- 1 Ruby = 1 point
- 1 Diamond = 5 points
The player with the highest score is declared the winner! In case of a tie, the tied players share the victory.
Tips for Winning: Be a Strategic Explorer!
- Know the Risks: Keep an eye on the Trap Cards that have already been played. If a trap has already appeared once, the next time it appears will be the end of the expedition. Knowing this can help you decide if it's time to leave and secure your treasures.
- Observe Your Opponents: Pay attention to other players' decisions. If many are leaving, it might be a good time for you too, especially if there are Relics or many Rubies left behind that you can take alone!
- The Value of Relics: Relics are valuable, especially those that come after the first three. Trying to be the only one to leave in a turn where there are Relics can give you a significant advantage in Diamonds.