Scott Rogers' Diamonds and Dinosaurs

A game for 2-4 players

Intrepid explorers have landed on Dinosaur Island in search of fabulous diamonds! Setting out from their base camp, the explorers hack their way into the jungle in search of the lost gems but will they get eaten by vicious dinosaurs first?

Diamonds and Dinosaurs is a board/card game my son and I invented on a lazy Sunday. It uses components easily found in most houses (at least a house occupied by a 10 year old boy)

Play time: about 20-30 minutes

Here's what you need to play:

One 12 sided die

 

Four 6 sided die

One deck of standard playing cards (52 cards) with Jokers removed

 

4 player pawns (These could be taken from any game)

12 plastic dinosaurs

21 diamond tokens (or glass beads)

Starting up

1.     Remove the Ace of Spades from the deck of cards.

2.     Place it in the Ace of Spades in the center of the table, leaving enough room around to place more cards. The Ace of Spades is known as the basecamp.

3.     Place all player pawns on the basecamp.

4.     Give each player one 6 sided die – this is used to track health. Turn the die so the 6 is face-up.

5.     Deal each player 3 cards. Do not reveal these to the other players.

6.     Place the remaining deck of cards face down.

7.     Roll die to determine turn order.
 

Card Meaning

Each of the suites of cards in Diamonds and Dinosaurs represents a different player action in the game:

Diamond = place a diamond on this card when played
Heart = land on a heart card for a player to get 1 health back on the 6 sided die
Space = place a dinosaur onto a this card when played
Club = used to defeat a dinosaur

The number on the card determines the dice roll needed to move onto that card or in the case of the Dinosaur Attack! Phase, determines the number the player must beat to avoid being attacked by a dinosaur. For example, if a dinosaur is on a 5 of Spades, the player must roll a five or higher on the twelve sided die to avoid being attacked. If the player wanted to move onto the 5 of Spaces (once the dinosaur has been defeated) they would have to roll a five or better on the twelve sided dice to move onto that card.

The twelve sided die is used to determine movement and attack outcomes.

The six sided die is used to keep track of player health. Each player starts with 6 health. A player loses health when they are attacked by a dinosaur. A player can regain health by landing on a heart card. The player can never have more than 6 health. If a player loses all of their health, they remove one diamond token from their pile and leave it on the card and their pawn is placed on the basecamp. If the player has no diamond tokens, just return the pawn to the basecamp. The player health returns back to 6.

Placing diamonds – whenever a Diamond suit card is placed on the board, the player places a diamond token on it. Collect 6 diamond tokens to win the game. If the player defeats a dinosaur by playing a club, a diamond token is placed on the card where the dinosaur was.

Placing dinosaurs – whenever a Spade suit card is placed on the board, the player places a dinosaur on it. Dinosaurs attack adjacent players – vertical, horizontal or diagonal. Each dinosaur adjacent to the player gets to attack during the Dinosaur Attack! Phase. For example, if Jack has three dinosaurs surrounding his player token, he must roll the twelve sided die three times to determine whether he takes damage from each of the dinosaurs. He must roll a number higher than the card the dinosaur is on to avoid taking damage.

Player movement – The player can move their pawn vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. As long as the player makes a successful twelve sided dice roll to land on the card, they can keep moving. For example, Brenda rolls a 6 to move horizontally to a 4 of Hearts card. She rolls a 9 to move diagonally onto a 3 of Spades card. She rolls a 2 but there isn't a card with a number high enough for her to move on to. Whenever the player fails a dice roll, their movement phase is ended.

Taking damage – When the player has a dinosaur adjacent to pawn – horizontally, vertically or diagonally – during the Dinosaur Attack! Phase, they must roll a twelve sided die using the card number the dinosaur is standing on to determine whether it hits or not. For example, if a dinosaur is on a 10 of Spades card, the player must roll an 11 or 12 to not take damage. If the player receives damage, they track it on their six-sided die. If the player ever loses all of their life (health is reduced down past 1) they must place one of their collected diamonds onto the card and move their player pawn back to the basecamp.

Sequence of play

1.     The Jungle grows! Player places one card from their hand onto the table to build the map. The player must always play a card during this phase. Depending on the suit, determines what action is taken:

a.     Diamond = place a diamond on the diamond card when played

b.     Heart = land on a heart card for a player to get 1 health back

c.      Space = place a dinosaur onto a spade card when played

d.     Club = used to defeat a dinosaur – see below

2.     Defeat a Dinosaur! If the player can play a club card, here’s where they do it. To defeat a dinosaur, discard the club card with a number equal to or higher to the number on the card. For example, if Bob is adjacent to a dinosaur which is on a 8 of spades card, Bob must have a club card that is an eight or higher. The player does not have to be adjacent to the dinosaur to defeat it with a club card. If a dinosaur is defeated, remove the dinosaur from the map and replace it with a diamond token. The player can defeat as many dinosaurs as they have club cards of a high enough value. One club card defeats one dinosaur.

3.     Dinosaur Attack! For each dinosaur adjacent to the player’s location, roll the twelve sided die. Use the card number to determine the attack number. For example, if the dinosaur is on the 6 of spades, the attack number is 6. If the player rolls the attack number or lower, they take 1 point of damage. Use the six sided die to track damage. If the player ever takes six damage, they take one diamond from their collected diamonds and place it on the card. The player pawn is then moved to the basecamp and play continues. If the player doesn't have a diamond, their pawn is still moved back to the basecamp.

4.     Movement phase! Roll the 12 sided die to determine your movement number. For example, if you want to move to the 7 of Hearts, you need to roll a 7 or higher. Face cards (except the basecamp) count as a 10. The basecamp doesn’t require a roll to enter it, but the player must still roll the dice to determine if there is a Massive Dinosaur Assault! (see below) The player may move their pawn to any adjacent card they want as long as their die roll number equals or beats the number on the card. As long as the player makes a successful roll, they can keep rolling to move onto a new card – even if a diamond has been collected or the player has healed that turn. When a roll is failed, the player’s movement phase ends.

5.     Massive Dinosaur Assault! If the player ever rolls a 1 on the die during movement, then a dinosaur must be placed on every empty Spade card on the board!

6.     Collecting diamonds! If the player moves onto Diamond suit card or a card where a dinosaur has been replaced by a diamond, the player collects that diamond. Collect six diamonds to win the game! A player may only collect one diamond even if there are more than one diamond on that card.

7.     Regaining health! If the player moves onto Heart suit card the player may regain 1 health. Use the six sided die to track health.

8. Draw another card! The last thing a player does on their turn is draw another card. The player must always have three cards in their hand by the end of their turn.

9.     The next player goes! This continues until one player has collected six diamonds or the deck of cards has run out.
 

How to win: The first player who collects six diamonds (or has the most diamonds when the deck of cards is used up) wins! If you want to play a shorter or a longer game, then change the number of diamonds.

The explorer hastily gathered up their gems as they escaped back to the basecamp. “We were lucky to escape Dinosaur Island with our lives!”

I hope you enjoy playing Diamonds and Dinosaurs!