Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 90 | 16 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 97% | 92 | 344 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 100% | 97 | 11 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Acclaim gate: the raw blend lands at 89.7, but scores above 88 must be earned in front of a mass audience; this verdict rests on 703 player reviews, a largely self-selected fanbase. As more players weigh in, the ceiling rises (full scale unlocks at 100,000 reviews).
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Aug 16, 2026) · 11 reviews sampled · 11 total reviews in window · weighted 10.3 up / 0 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (14)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 90
“Move aside, Laura Bow. Nancy Maple is the reigning queen of retro-styled murder mysteries in The Crimson Diamond, a clever, engaging, and satisfying tale that is sure to entertain fans of Sierra’s text-driven EGA classics while being accessible to adventurers new to this style of game.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“The Crimson Diamond is a gem of a 2024 release, a convincingly vintage, but also refreshingly modern take on the text parser game. The overall package is a modest but fulfilling mystery that doesn’t overstay its welcome and leaves a fantastic impression of what adventure gaming was like in its golden era.”
read full review ↗ - 86
“The Crimson Diamond is a respectful tribute to a much older gaming era. ”
read full review ↗ - 70
“The Crimson Diamond is a colourful retro-style detective game that gives you plenty of freedom to explore your own case while also making you think outside the box to solve challenging puzzles.”
read full review ↗ - 95
“The Crimson Diamond is a cosy retro-style murder mystery with an excellent story, enjoyable puzzles, and a charming protagonist. This is a must-play for anyone who loves text-based adventure games or wants an accessible, modern entry point into the genre.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Overall, I liked my time with The Crimson Diamond. I think it feels like a complete game with no bugs that I ran across. The story is interesting, and the puzzles are fun. However, some of the music and visual choices were not to my taste. If you like old-school text adventures, The Crimson Diamond may be just the thing for you. However, if you don’t like all the eccentricities of text adventures, I would avoid this one.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“The Crimson Diamond is a must buy for would-be detectives and adventurers alike. Its rich, thrilling tale had us hooked from beginning to slightly-embarrassing end. And once we’ve binged every episode of Columbo, you can bet we’ll be back for more. ”
read full review ↗ - 90
“This is for the gaming veterans. This is for the folk who had processors that ended in 86 and marveled at how much faster 28.8mbps could be once you upgraded your modem. For the keyboard cowboys who swapped tips on BBSs, for diehards who couldn’t imagine not having a floppy drive, for the survivors of Space Quest, Police Quest, King’s Quest and other Quests. If you have any love for those impossibly, wonderfully frustrating adventures that came before Broken Sword, The Crimson Diamond is a magnificent work of art.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“The Crimson Diamond is a remarkable game, not just in terms of the experience it offers, but in the fact that it exists at all. The game not only successfully evokes text parser adventure games of decades past but improves on them in dozens of little ways. Julia Minamata deserves a massive amount of credit for evoking the feel, look, and style of the era in a way that doesn’t feel dated or like a relic of a forgotten past. Whether her next project is a text parser game, a verb-wheel-based point-and-click, or a completely different genre, I expect she will make it with the same level of care and imagination that she shows here. The Crimson Diamond is clearly a labor of love, and I loved it just as much in return!”
read full review ↗ - 95
“The Crimson Diamond is a fantastic mystery that’s incredibly enjoyable to solve. The characters are delightful, the visuals are stunning, the music is catchy and era appropriate, and there’s quite a lot to discover. This is a must play for any adventure game fan.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“The Crimson Diamond is not a game for everyone; indeed, the adventure genre, already quite niche in its own way, is made even more hostile by the presence of text-based controls. However, anyone should try this experience, because such well-packaged products rarely come out and transcend the nostalgia operation by offering a story worthy of Agata Christie in the artistic guise that made the defunct, but still alive in the hearts of fans, Sierra On-Line so famous. The excellently crafted parser and a notepad full of hints make it much more accessible than you might imagine.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“Are adventure games always about solving one selection of puzzles? As far back as the early 1990s, the genre has experiment with ‘paths not taken’. The Crimson Diamond encourages snooping, and punishes laziness, just by making you feel kinda bad. There’s a lot about this game to miss, and misunderstand.”
read full review ↗
GameLuster
GameGrin
LadiesGamers.com
GameSpew
WayTooManyGames
RPG Fan
GamingTrend
The Games Machine…and 2 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Two years of The Crimson Diamond!!Aug 16, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- v1.10u update and cloud saves enabled!May 1, 2025
- BIG The Crimson Diamond update!Nov 13, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- November BIG Update Patch Notes!Nov 13, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- The Crimson Diamond Bug Fixes!Sep 2, 2024
- The Crimson Diamond Bug FixesAug 18, 2024
- The Crimson Diamond Launch Date Revealed!Jun 8, 2024