Rush through mines with the dwarves, collecting precious gems and diamond dust!
Covid hit, and I was desperate to play games with my family. Time to Google: “How to play board games online.” I had never done this before as we were always trying to play over video. I stumbled upon Tabletopia.com and found many games I always wanted to try, all for free! This site is a simulator, so you still have to interact with the pieces as you normally would, but after a couple of games, you get the hang of it.
I wanted to try something different, and the game Gem Rush looked interesting. The artwork was my cup of tea, and it felt simple enough to learn quickly. Immediately, it reminded me of Splendor with all the gems you are collecting and spending. Splendor has always been a favorite filler game, so we were pleasantly surprised after playing Gem Rush and adding a new fun game to play online.
Each player is a dwarf mining in the caverns, looking for different types and colors of gems. To explore further, you must collect specific patterns of gems to score points and dig deeper into the mine. The first dwarf to score at least 20 points (or whatever number you decide) wins! But wait, there is another method of gameplay; if you don’t want to rush for all the gems, you can work together in “crisis mode.” Under a turn limit, each player must work in unison to score a total amount of points by exploring all tunnels and veins of the mine!
Which mode will you choose?
Mechanics & Categories: Tile Placement, Resource Management, Hand Management, Set Collection, Cooperative Option
INTUITIVE DESIGN
Having played this again after a couple of years, it was simple to get back up and running again. Each mine tile has an action displayed with iconography that clearly shows what it does. There are also gemstones of different colors on each opening with a point value. When you go through a passage, you pay the gems and score the points; it’s that intuitive. You still need to read the rules, but picking up how this game flows is relatively easy.
As for the icons, there is always a card icon with an additional icon on how you interact with the gem card deck:
Plus icon - draw a card
Eye icon - Reveal a card
Minus icon - discard a card
Shovel icon - dig or keep revealing until you find something
Hand icon - keep a card
Speech bubble icon - name a card
A number on the card - do the action that many times
These icons are all listed in left-to-right order so you can read them like a sentence. Such as, “Name two cards (gems), and dig until you get those two.” Some introduce other icons and arrows that are more difficult to understand, but they have a cheat sheet in the rulebook for each mine action.
Like most tile placement games, the edges of each tile need to align, in this case, tunnels and mine caves. However, there are a couple of “gotchas” where only the direction you are moving has to match the sides. As for the other sides, they don’t necessarily have to align. You can move one way through a wall but then cannot return. This simulates crevices and secret paths you might find on your travels.
FAST GAMEPLAY
Whether playing in cooperative crisis mode or player versus player-rush mode, you can choose a target score of points to achieve before the game starts. There are recommendations for varying player counts that you can use that are achievable in around thirty minutes. The gameplay is quite similar to Splendor, but you have ways to change the gem cards in your hand by moving around the board to take different actions.
Set up is very fast; just shuffle the gem and mine cards, and you are off to the races. With each turn, you discard down to four cards in hand, move up to three times, and take one action (or draw a single card). Turns can be short as you must find a way to get certain gems to explore more tunnels. Some actions will get you there faster than others, so your strategy is simple.
MINE CART ADVENTURE
I love exploration games where the map is revealed as you progress. I'm always excited to see what room you will reveal next. You really feel like you are exploring mines and trying to find precious gemstones. You might stumble upon a diamond vein that produces many diamonds. You might stumble upon a wishing well granting you the gems of your dreams. There are even fountains that produce each gem type!
The flavor of the actions you can take meshes perfectly with what you encountered in the mine. There are mine carts that can speed you along through the tunnels anywhere you want to go, as well as magical items that can teleport you! You may even find extra rare gems, such as Orichalcum, that can grant you more points towards victory as you use them to explore!
Final Comments
Gem Rush is a great filler game (even though it takes up some table space as you construct mine). I continue to bring up Splendor, but this is a “hidden gem” of a game that adds unique tile placement and movement aspects to Splendor. I recommend this game if you are a fan of card games and hand management.
Gem Rush is very lightweight for newer gamers to get involved and easy for kids. Not having a lot of rules can make some players more willing to try something new. This lesser-known game is a bit harder to find, but if you want to give it a go, head over to Tabletopia and try it out! Luckily, some of my friends received a copy in a Mystery Board Game Box they were selling at PAX East, so I was able to get my hands on one!
Similar To: Splendor, Ticket to Ride, Sub Terra
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Publisher: Victory Point Games
Game(s) Pictured: Gem Rush (Second Edition)
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