Diamond: The Game

Diamond the Game Print and Play is a board game you can print at home, for 2-5 players that lasts between 20-30 minutes. It puts you and your family and friends directly in the role as a researcher at the Diamond Light Source, visiting different beamlines to make progress in a diverse range of scientific projects in Physics, Chemistry, Cultural Heritage, and more. As you travel around the synchrotron you will have to make the most of your experiments, as well as working with your fellow players, in order to be remembered as the most famous scientist!

Players move around the synchrotron, stopping at different beamlines that let them make progress in specific scientific disciplines. Once at a beamline, players perform an experiment, drawing cards that represent either successes or failure. They can draw as many cards as they want, but beware! If you draw 2 failure cards you must stop, and lose half of your successes. Once the experiment is finished, players can assign their successes to ongoing projects matching the discipline - once all requirements are met on a project it is completed, and will earn you fame. Once a set number of projects are completed, the game ends, and the scientist with the highest amount of fame wins!

Dr Mark Basham and Dr Claire Murray from Diamond Light Source and Dr Matthew Dunstan from the University of Cambridge created the game to showcase both the research performed at this world-leading facility, but also to give you first-hand experience of the different aspects of actually working in scientific research. Whether it is the variety of science that exists, the timely value of a vital collaboration, the disappointment of a failed experiment, or gratitude for the help from a friendly staff scientist, the game puts you directly in the action so you can make your own choices about what type of scientist you want to be.

—description from the designer