Diamonsters: A Tricky Little Card Game with Monstrous Personality

Diamonsters has you bidding with monsters as you try to collect even more, but watch out, some of those little fellows can be tricky.

A light filler from IDW Games, is there more to it than just cute little monsters?

Gameplay

Each player stars with the same five card hand, a different monster each numbered one through five. At the start of each turn, a monster card from the deck is drawn. Each player then selects one of their own monster cards to bid on it, and play it facedown.

Once everyone has played a card, all cards are flipped over. The player who wins the card adds it to his collection (face up in front of himself), as well as the card that won the bid, and draws a new card into his hand. All losing cards are taken back into the hands of the people who played them.

If two or more players have played the same monster card, they are disqualified. The highest bid then wins. However, if the highest bid is number five and another player has played number one, number one wins.

Each monster has one or more diamonds listed on it, except for the number four monster, who subtracts two diamonds. A round ends when a player either has three of the same monsters in their monster collection, or a player has a total of five diamonds.

You earn one point for winning a round. The game continues to a certain number of points, depending on how many players are in the game.

Review

Each turn is fast, and the game steadily grows more difficult as players draw new cards. The players' hands, which start out the same, soon become vastly different. It’s a fun challenge to try and read the other players and guess what they might play next. The game also has a lot of personality, from the artwork on the monsters to the humorous tone the rulebook takes. Playing the game feels like stepping into a fun environment with enjoyable characters.

For two to six players it has a nice, flexible player count, though it does work better with the higher count. It’s also quite a small game, but comes in a relatively large box, given how many components it has, which limits portability for playing on the go.

Short, sweet, and very light, it’s a fun little game. You’re not going to find anything very substantial in it, but it’s the perfect game for the end of the night or if you want something that you don’t have to take too seriously.

Pros: Has a fun atmosphere

Cons: Large box for a small game, works better with the higher player count

Disclosure: we received a complimentary review copy of this game.