The Crimson Diamond

The Crimson Diamond is a throwback game with designs and styles reminiscent of the old Sierra games. Specifically, the Laura Bow games such as the Colonel’s Bequest. In the game, you are Nancy Maples, an aspiring geologist. You get sent to a lodge out in the Canadian wilds because a diamond has been discovered there. Your goal is to determine if there are more diamonds in the area or not. Things get complicated, though, as other characters are also there for various and maybe nefarious reasons.

Since you’re the only one interested in actively figuring out what’s going on, you take the lead as an amateur detective. Get your investigative cap on and figure out what’s really going on. And maybe if there are diamonds or not.

Find it on Steam.

The Crimson Diamond is a detective game where you must inspect scenes, talk to people, and gather clues. There are missable events, so if you don’t know what to do, you may miss out on some information. It is good for multiple playthroughs where you know more about how the game works to try and figure out more of what’s going on.

The gameplay is primarily done through the keyboard. This is a text parsing adventure game! You need to type things like “Look at cabinet,” or, “Examine bottle.” There are shorthands to use since you may be using certain commands a lot. Sometimes, you got to figure out what the game wants you to type to do what you want, though overall, the game gives helpful information about why certain commands don’t work.

Don’t worry, though. While the game might be styled after old Sierra games, it doesn’t have nearly as many ways to die. It also is fair and won’t put you into an unwinnable state. The graphics does give that really old feel marvelously. The game does happen to be pretty quiet, though. There aren’t many sound effects, and music happens mainly in the cutscenes. Most of the time, you’ll be wandering around in silence.

There is mouse control in the game, but it’s not needed. It mainly makes navigating the menu and inventory easier. Though if you want to use the keyboard only, turning the inventory into a text list rather than an icon grid makes it easier to navigate. And of course the mouse helps you actually get into the game from Steam.

Now would the game be better with normal point-and-click mouse controls? I’m not sure. All the presentation points to having a text parser style of game. Though mouse controls would certainly make things more convenient. There were times Nancy wouldn’t look at something I wanted her to because I didn’t know the right command to enter. If I tried longer, I could have maybe figured it out.

The game mainly takes place at a remote lodge and the immediate area. Nancy starts off simply getting to know the cast of characters, but she may stumble upon suspicious happenings. The cast is interesting and varied with many different motivations and goals. People don’t have reasons to just tell you things, so you’ll need to find out for yourself through cunning and investigating.

Once you get to the end of the game, you will be quizzed of sorts. How well you do will depend on how well you answer these questions, which you can only do if you found the relevant clues over the course of the game. There are multiple endings that can happen depending on how well you do. For my first run, I did alright, though I certainly could have done better.

There is a hint book on the official website if you need help. I did use it for one puzzle, but overall, I managed to figure out things myself. It does feel satisfying as you start to piece things together and figure out how to get the information you need.

The Crimson Diamond is a throwback to text parser games but made with some modern sensibilities. There won’t be any of the unfairness found in the older games. With a good pixel art style that mimics old style graphics, the game is a good investigating story. It certainly brings out a sense of nostalgia in me, but it is also a solid game by itself.

Find it on Steam.