BLOOD DIAMONDS

by Mark Steere

INTRODUCTION

Blood Diamonds is a game of land, natural resources, wealth and bankruptcy. The game board depicts a large property with a river running through the middle of it. The property is partitioned by a 6x6 grid into 36 sectors. Each of the sectors is divided into 16 parcels of land, or less if the sector includes part of the river. Blood Diamonds is presented as a two player game for ease of explanation, but is easily adapted to more players. Blood Diamonds was designed by Mark Steere in November, 2008.

PLAY

Players take turns buying and selling land. One player is chosen at random to take the first turn. You begin your turn by rolling a pair of dice. One of the dice is black and the other white. The black die determines a North-South sector coordinate, and the white die determines a West-East sector coordinate. The two sector coordinates designate the sector in which you can buy and sell parcels of land during your turn. Players begin the game with 500K each in currency.

LAND

A parcel of land can be any one of four types: Desert (tan), Farmland (green), Coal field land (gray), and Diamond field land (pink). All land is initially owned by the government and is sold by the government at fixed prices. The government-set base prices for parcels are 1K for Desert, 5K for Farmland, 20K for Coal field land, and 100K for Diamond rich land.

TAX

At the beginning of a player’s turn, before rolling the dice, he is charged 2% tax on all of his parcels, based on the current sale price of each parcel (not on the government-set base price).

REVENUE

Land must be connected to the river to earn revenue. In other words, to earn revenue on a parcel, you must own a continuous path of parcels which connects said parcel to the river. At the beginning of a player’s turn, before rolling the dice, he earns 10% revenue on all of his river connected parcels, based on the government-set base price of each parcel (not on the current sale price). Non-connected land earns no revenue.

SALES TO THE OTHER PLAYER

If your opponent buys property from you before your turn, then at the beginning of your turn the money from the sale is added to your cash account.

SALES TO THE GOVERNMENT

Players can sell their parcels (within the designated sector) back to the government for half the government-set base price during their turn. Said parcels immediately become available for purchase from the government at the full base price.

PURCHASES

You can buy any parcel which is owned by the government or the other player within the designated sector. Immediately upon purchasing a parcel, you must set a sale price on that parcel. The new sale price can be anywhere between 0.00K and 999K. The default sale price of a parcel is equal to the most recent purchase price of that parcel. Every parcel of land is always for sale during play.

ADJUST YOUR SALE PRICES

After buying and selling parcels, and while it is still your turn, you may adjust any or all of the sale prices of parcels you own within the designated sector.

OBJECT OF THE GAME

The goal is to either earn 1 million in currency or bankrupt your opponent, whichever happens first. At the beginning of your turn, when your cash account is adjusted for prior sales, tax and revenue, if the total in your account equals or exceeds 1 million, you win. If the total has dropped below zero, you have the option of selling any number of your parcels (in the designated sector) back to the government for half of the government-set base price. After that you may buy other parcels in the sector while it is still your turn, if you have enough cash to pay for them. At the conclusion of your turn, after all your transactions are completed, if you still have less than zero cash, you lose. If the cash in your account at the conclusion of your turn equals or exceeds 1 million, you win.

In the multi-player version of Blood Diamonds, losers are eliminated from the game and the remaining players play on, in counterclockwise order. The land previously owned by eliminated players is reclaimed by the government and becomes available for purchase at the government-set base rates.

The first player to earn 1 million in cash wins, or the last player remaining in the game after all other players have been eliminated wins, whichever happens first. The goal is to either earn 1 million in currency or bankrupt your opponent, whichever happens first.

SHORT GAME VARIATION

A shorter game can be played by imposing a limit on the total number of turns for each player, such as 100 turns each. If nobody has won at that point, either by earning 1 million in currency or remaining in the game after all of the other players have been eliminated, then the player who owns the most cash (at the conclusion of the final turn) wins.