Rich Diamond Games Magazine Review

The "Indiana Jones™" school of computer puzzles has given us several interesting games, some of them in shareware form (e.g., Everett Kaser's "Hero" games; see "Shareware Fair," last issue). In this genre, an adventurer, sometimes wearing Indy's trademark felt hat and leather jacket, collects jewels and other treasures in a series of rooms (levels) by outsmarting clever devices designed to trap or kill anyone foolish enough to place greed above self-preservation.

Rich Diamond has the graphics and sounds one expects from commercial software--nice enough, if not cutting edge. But the main attraction here is the quality of the puzzles. There are 80 increasingly difficult levels. The first few are tutorial. The 80th, which you can print out in schematic form, is as detailed as the map of a small city. Each level is made up of pathways, mazes and tunnels. Jewels are scattered about--usually in hard-to-reach places, protected by traps, or both. Some levels feature deadly bugs and spiders in addition to the usual rolling boulders and pitfalls. But you can use boxes and rocks in various helpful ways, such as to create paths, fill holes, build walls, or kill spiders (my favorite). There's no time limit, so examine each puzzle carefully before plowing ahead. Often I've spent half an hour or so escaping death in myriad ways only to be trapped at the end because I was too shortsighted.

Some other Indy-type puzzle I've played are clever but much too difficult in the early stages, discouraging further play. The puzzles in Rich Diamond seem just right: easy to start with, tougher by the time you've learned a few tricks, and really hard only when you're ready, since you don't get to try the tough puzzles until you've solved the easier ones. Kudos to the creator of this fine game.

Burt Hochberg

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