The Crimson Diamond Review

The Crimson Diamond is a text parser mystery adventure game from solo dev Julia Minamata that brings its world to life with a faithful EGA palette and spins its tale with the best Agatha Christie vibes. It’s a love letter to Sierra On-Line’s iconic 1989 title, The Colonel’s Bequest — the first instalment of the Laura Bow Mystery series — so get ready for a wave of nostalgia if those games are among your favourites and/or if you happen to love early text-based adventures. Though I haven’t had a chance to play the old Laura Bow series just yet (don’t worry, it’s on my list), Crimson Diamond’s retro charm still drew me in from the get-go, and I was curious to see how exploration and puzzle-solving would feel with this being my first venture into the land of text parsers — but not my first foray into the role of a fictional amateur sleuth.

It's the year 1914 when a revolutionary discovery is made in the town of Crimson, and you can probably guess what it is: diamonds! After a fisherman cuts the illustrious gem from his catch of the day, word reaches the Royal Canadian Museum, where our aspiring mineralogist, Nancy Maple, is sent out on an assignment to do fieldwork in Crimson following the news, tasked with verifying whether diamonds are or are not present in the river there. Such a discovery could offer a significant leap in Nancy’s career and take the museum’s exhibit to the next level, but of course, the search for more diamonds isn’t that simple.

Not only does Nancy lose her field kit on the train to Crimson, but she also finds herself in a strange (yet cosy) lodge where the vibes are… definitely fishy. Other residents include a monocle-wearing mineralogist named Albert, birding enthusiast Kimi, the lodge’s owner Evan Richards, and others. When things take a more murderous turn amongst the group, your original goal of examining rock samples is paired with investigative efforts: dusting for fingerprints, comparing shoe sizes, smelling strange substances, questioning your new acquaintances, and more.

As someone who loves mysteries and detective games, Nancy is one of the most endearing characters I’ve had the pleasure of playing. The game’s Steam description calls her a “reluctant” detective, but she shows Nancy Drew levels of curiosity right from the start. Her inquisitive mind and frequent mineralogy facts made my time with Crimson Diamond very fun — the close-up on her enthralled face anytime she eavesdropped on characters just screamed natural sleuth to me. Even in the face of some shocking discoveries, her dialogue also balances being serious and lighthearted, keeping with the cosy mystery vibe all throughout. While I don’t want to spoil any narrative beats, I will say the rest of the cast is very well crafted, as each character has their motives (which you’ll need to uncover), secrets, and backstories that make them rather interesting to interact with.

Though you can point-and-click to move Nancy around the lodge’s rooms and surrounding areas, a majority of your gameplay happens in Crimson Diamond’s text parser. For the uninitiated, this mechanic has you type in commands, and the game will react accordingly. For instance, typing “Look” will yield a description of the room you’re in, such as “The kitchen has a rough-hewn, rustic charm” or “There is a buffet and a display cabinet set against the north wall.” These descriptions are great jumping-off points for things you can “open,” “search,” and “examine,” especially since nothing is visually highlighted across these environments; the more you pay attention to the text, the more thorough you are, the better your investigation will go.

As someone new to the text-parser genre, I missed quite a bit in the game’s opening chapters, as I hadn’t realised the extent of things I could question characters about or just how many items I could inspect and even “take” with me. But by the time I reached the closing chapters, I felt like a parser prodigy every time I had Nancy smell a weird substance to determine what it was, or hide in an unsuspecting place to eavesdrop on conversations. Even with the slight learning curve it takes to get accustomed to using the parser interface, Crimson Diamond is pretty beginner-friendly overall and it’s very intuitive to your inputs. Plus, it has many helpful features, such as a handy tutorial, a hint book that opens in your browser if you get stuck, and parser shortcuts like “o d” for “open door” to make typing much quicker. However, if typing everything you need to do sounds like a drag, this retro gameplay style won’t be your cup of tea.

As you progress with your investigations around the lodge, you'll get to solve a wide variety of puzzles, such as retrieving a geologist's pick for Nancy’s fieldwork or figuring out how to gather everyone’s fingerprints when a thief is afoot. I found each puzzle enjoyable to solve, though occasionally, my main obstacle became the parser, as I’d technically know the right answer to a problem, but the sentence I’d type would be slightly off. For example, at one point, I found myself in possession of a key and was stumped on how to use it, as “Use” isn’t a command recognised by the parser. While “Open satchel with key,” didn’t work for me, “Unlock satchel” did. So, as you can see, while a puzzle or obstacle might seem simple to overcome, it could take a bit of finesse when it comes to telling the game what you want to do.

For the cosy mystery niche, The Crimson Diamond hits all the right notes. The lodge where you spend most of the game has two floors with charming details in each room, from fireplaces to tall bookshelves. I simply love the EGA palette used to create this world, as every space is beautiful, and it’s extremely impressive how detailed everything is with just 16 colours in use. The upbeat retro music also adds to the overall cosiness and takes a suspenseful turn at all the right moments. Plus, we’ve got a loveable amateur sleuth in our protagonist Nancy, a well-rounded cast of interesting characters, and the possibility of a feel-good ending. That said, your ending can go in multiple directions — some with more death than others — depending on your actions during the final confrontations. Mine, thankfully, went really well, keeping things pretty lighthearted from start to finish. I should note you are scored at the very end based on the information you gather throughout the game, so like I said, be the nosiest Nancy you can! You won’t regret it.

If you are looking for a modern entry point into the text-parser genre, love detective games, or have a lifelong love for retro adventure titles, The Crimson Diamond is the sparkly gem you’re looking for — one that rivals the highly sought-after diamonds in its story. This mystery scratched my itch to be an amateur Sherlock Holmes, and I came away with more than a few fun facts about the mineralogy field, which is a delightful bonus on this already lovely title.