Rohrer's Diamond Trust of London Funded, Releasing on DS

Jason Rohrer's (Passage, Sleep is Death, Inside a Star-filled Sky) diamond trading strategy game, Diamond Trust of London, recently reached it's funding through Kickstarter after a laborious development path. The game was originally to be backed and published by Majesco, but that deal came to a close after, according to Rohrer, Majesco wanted to publish the game on DSiWare instead of a physical cartridge. Development came to a halt as Rohrer moved on to develop and release Sleep is Death in 2010. "By May, it became clear that Majesco and I were at an impasse, and we wound down the project," said Rohrer in a blog post.

The game was then picked up by Zoo Entertainment's Indie Pub label in late 2010, though that company then went through finical troubles in mid-2011: they left the retail games business for more cost-efficient digital publishing, they had a class-action suit filled by share holders for issuing false statements, and they were delisted from NASDAQ.

The game will still be technically published by Indie Pub, but Rohrer is funding the manufacture of cartridges through Kickstarter.

Rohrer describes how the game plays on his Kickstarter page:

Diamond Trust is a two-player, turn-based, simultaneous-decision strategy game about diamond traders operating in Angola in the year 2000. Over the course of eight in-game months, diamonds accumulate in various regions to be taken by the highest bidder, and whoever brings the most diamonds back from Angola wins. Outfoxing your opponent is your main tactic, but bribing and spying mechanics complicate things. When agent loyalty waivers, your hidden information can be revealed to your opponent without you knowing that it has been revealed. On the other hand, you might know that one of your agents has been bribed by your opponent, but does your opponent know that you know?

The project has already reached its funding goal of 78,715 dollars and closes on May 26 at 6:00 PM EST. It offers, effectively, a pre-order for $35 dollars. Other tiers include bonuses like a linear version of the dynamically generated soundtrack and physical pack-in items. The game will be available by mail order directly from Rohrer after the Kickstarter campaign.