Upcoming DS Strategy Game Focuses on Blood Diamond Trade

Jason Rohrer’s Diamond Trust of London, a strategy game focusing on the blood diamond trade, is back on track for a DS release.

The Nintendo DS is often thought of as a platform with family friendly games. Jason Rohrer’s Diamond Trust of London breaks that mold as a DS strategy game that revolves around the shadiness of the blood diamond trade. Rohrer previously had a deal with Majesco to publish the title that fell apart, but according to new information it’s back on track at another outfit.

A lengthy Charge Shot interview revealed that Diamond Trust of London has been picked up by Zoo Games. If all goes well, it’ll still make its way onto retail shelves.

Diamond Trust of London supposedly isn’t quite as dark as it sounds. The game isn’t necessarily about exposing the brutality of the African blood diamond trade, but about what Rohrer calls “knowledge chains.” Players have to extract as many diamonds as they can from Angola while also selling them on the market, but one participant’s actions can significantly affect the other’s. For example, flooding the market with diamonds will cause a loss in profit. Without knowing what the other player is going to do, or knowing what they’ve learned about you through subterfuge, any decision made could be either great or awful.

This strategic concept revolves around the blood diamond trade because Rohrer noticed that it involved the secretive type of interaction that he wanted to explore. Previously, he had thought to make the game about two parties collecting information for their divorce hearing, but it would have been a weird sell.

Rohrer has become well known for unique and arty projects such as Sleep is Death and Passage, and Blood Diamond Trust of London looks like another intriguing piece of work. His games are mostly available for free on his website, with a trio having been compiled for DSiWare in the Alt-Play: Jason Rohrer Anthology. Diamond Trust of London doesn’t have a release date yet, but will ideally make it to the final stage this time.

Source: Charge Shot, via Joystiq