Diamond Trust of London

 DS
Metascore
tbd

No score yet - based on 2 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
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  1. Nintendo Gamer
    Jan 23, 2012
    66
    Crude presentation and lack of content don't completely let down what's undeniably a fascinating idea. They try really hard, though making this a worthwhile but insubstantial game. [Jan 2012, p.115]
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  2. Edge Magazine
    Dec 8, 2011
    60
    Playing against AI can throw up a challenge, but requires patience. Higher difficulties give the AI more time to think, but DTOL's real problem is its interface. It's simple to the point of crudity, but functionally it can be opaque and cluttered, making a reasonably complex game seem even more so while you're figuring out the rules. Get past that, and there's an acute psychological game to be played in DTOL, but it'll require time – and an extra player – to find it.

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No user score yet- Awaiting 2 more ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. sophistry
    Oct 3, 2012
    9
    It saddens me to see "critic" reviews of this game not understand it for what it is, and exactly what it set out to be. This is a two-playerIt saddens me to see "critic" reviews of this game not understand it for what it is, and exactly what it set out to be. This is a two-player Espionage Strategy game. It's in a genre all it's own. ---- The object of Diamond Trust of London is to out-smart your opponent by knowing (or guessing) how much information they might know about your move, and then trying to adjust to that knowledge. If you play against a savvy opponent (and I suggest you do, not the AI, which is there only for practice), you might start asking yourself interesting strategic questions like "Do they know that I know that my agent is bribed? And if so, would they believe this next move I make, which is really a feint so I can make this other move?" ---- It is questions like that, that make this title brilliant, in the same way that a good mystery/espionage book or movie is brilliant. You need nothing more from this game than to have a battle of the wits with your opponent. What you must understand is that DToL works as a game specifically on the DS for several reasons - necessity to play someone within close range; ability to bribe an opposing agent without the opponent knowing their agent has been successfully bribed; portable form factor; ability to play a two-player game with only 1 cartridge. ---- Criticizing it for graphics is like criticizing Texas Hold'em Poker for its graphics. This is not a game that needs graphics, nor should it. It is extremely simplistic and static - the way a strategy game of this caliber should be. Anything more would have been unnecessary, and probably only serve to clutter or distract. ---- All of these things make this a great 2-player strategy game to play. You can, very easily, pick up this game with a friend every few days, or months or years, and have a very satisfying experience for about 20-40 minutes. In my opinion, Diamond Trust of London could enter into the annals of gaming as one of the few strategy titles that can span any generation, can be picked back up instantly, and players can develop new and interesting strategies, even years from now. Because of it's groundbreaking mechanics (which would be nearly impossible to recreate as a non-digital game) I don't think it's out of the question to put this in the same pantheon as Chess or Go. ---- To not touch upon the music as created by Tom Bailey would do DToL a huge disservice. What could have been a simple 8-bit stream of forgettable blips and woops, Tom has crafted an interactive experience that serves a split purpose. By changing the music based on game criteria, he and Jason Rohrer were able to match pace and strategy to the tunes streaming into your head. On the other hand, Tom has not let the player forget the roots of the aesthetic, weaving in heart-touching vocals and beats that support the ambiguous theme of what you are supposedly doing inside the game. ---- There is reason I have not given Diamond Trust a 10. When first learning to play, the interface can be a little confusing, and some elements could have been differentiated a bit more - I had no idea what the function/control of the UN Inspector was for a few days. Almost every game I played for the first few weeks, I hit the "Done" button before I was finished planning my move, simply because it always feels like you're hitting "Done" or "Next" or "Continue" after every minute change, so it should be after moving one agent. I ended up rereading the included booklet several times before fully understanding some of the phases. That is a very small gripe, however, and when you become accustomed to the flow of the game, two players can burn through all 9 rounds of play in fairly quick time. The only other strange part of the game is that you can't view your agents (or your opponents') outside of a certain phase of the game. Though this might have been a design choice, from time to time, I feel that I would like to see how many diamonds an agent is carrying, or whether I know how much their pay/bribe is. ---- All in all, this game is worth playing for strategy enthusiasts. I highly recommend it - if you can find a copy of an extremely limited run. ---- Outside of the score, it's interesting to know that one guy, Jason Rohrer designed and created this game, with Tom Bailey designing and creating the music. Through a Kickstarter campaign, Rohrer crowd-funded an official production through Nintendo - these are not homebrew carts, they are the real deal. It's the first time in history someone has published a boxed NDS (possibly any mobile/home console?) title in this fashion. It's an impressive show of passion, and you have to give Rohrer, IndiePub and their associates credit for pushing the Independent Publishing space to a whole new level. ----… Full Review »
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