We've received a request to locate gemstones in Orapa Mine, the world’s largest diamond mine. By sending ultrasonic waves deep into the ground and analyzing the signals that return, we can determine the position and condition of the gemstones. Although signals sometimes return abnormally, as experts, we will ultimately find the gemstones—just as we always have.

GOAL OF THE GAME

Be the first player to deduce the exact positions of all of the gemstones.

SETUP

In the BGA adaptation, there's no quiz master. The puzzle is randomly set-up and shared by all players. The original 2-player rules are not used.

GAMEBOARD

The BGA implementation has 3 sections of note. A gridded map, gemstone overlay pieces, and the game log. The gridded map has identifiers for the left and right side of each row and the top and bottom of each column. As turns progress, these identifiers will be color coded to reflect known information. The gemstone overlay pieces may be dragged onto the gridded area to document the suspected or known orientations of the gemstones as well as empty cells. The 4 corners of the gridded area have tools for saving the gemstone overlay, clearing the gridded area, show/hide gemstone piece overlay, and show/hide gemstone piece overlay controls. The game log will identify the details of the player actions to enable the deduction.

TURN STRUCTURE

On your turn you may do 1 of the following 3 actions:

1) Send Ultrasound Wave

Choose a starting position on the end of the gridded area. The ultrasound wave will be transmitted in a straight line from this spot. The players will be informed of the exit location as well as a color designation which will act as a clue as to which gemstones, if any, the ultrasound wave bounced against.

If the wave hits multiple instances of the same gemstone color it does not change the result color.

2) Ask About Specific Position

In this instance, the player picks a specific coordinate on the gridded area and is informed what color gemstone occupies that space, if any.

3) Submit Answer

If a player believes to know the exact locations/orientations of all of the gemstones they may overlay the gemstones on the gridded area and submit their answer. If they are correct, they win.

Diamond Expansion

Once players are familiar with the game, they may add a transparent gemstone piece for increased difficulty. The transparent gem reflects ultrasound waves like other gemstones but does not change the beam’s color. When the beam hits other gemstones in addition to the transparent one, their colors are determined by the original rules.

Blackbody Expansion

For expert-level difficulty, players may add a black gemstone piece. The black gemstone absorbs ultrasonic waves and does not reflect them. In this case, the quiz master responds with “The signal was absorbed” rather than providing an exit point or color.