Demons to Diamonds

Demons to Diamonds is a fixed-screen shooting-gallery game set at a target range in the Cosmic Carnival. In the single-player game, the player uses a paddle controller to move a laser base horizontally along the bottom of the screen. Holding the fire button extends its laser farther into the eight-row playfield, requiring the player to release the button when the beam reaches the intended target.

Demons travel horizontally across the playfield, changing color when they strike a side wall and sometimes moving into a different row. Shooting a demon matching the color of the player’s laser base scores between one and eight points, depending on its distance from the base. After a brief delay, the defeated demon transforms into a pulsating diamond that can be shot for ten times the original value before it disappears. Hitting a demon of the other color instead creates an indestructible skull that fires in both directions and remains on the playfield for a limited time.

Clearing every demon begins a new wave. As the game progresses, the demons move faster, skulls begin appearing independently, and later skulls move vertically while firing. Each player begins with five lives and loses one whenever the laser base is struck by a skull’s projectile.

Two-player games are played simultaneously, with one player firing upward from the bottom of the screen and the other firing downward from the top. Each player must target demons matching their own base, but either participant can shoot and claim a diamond created by the other. Certain variations also allow the players to hit each other’s laser bases directly. When one player loses all five lives, the survivor receives bonus points for each remaining life.

For the Atari 2600, six game variations are included. These provide standard and easier single-player modes, corresponding two-player modes, and competitive versions in which direct hits against the opposing laser base cost lives. The console’s difficulty switches separately control the speed of the skulls’ projectiles.