Diatoms - A Game of Microscopic Proportions

Diatoms is a stunning, puzzly, tile-placement, pattern-making game where you create your very own beautiful mosaic out of single-cell algae.

In Diatoms you take on the role of Victorian naturalists who practice the real (though obscure) art of creating microscopic mosaics.  Explore the algae waters, collect shimmery diatoms, and arrange them on your luxurious dual-layer microscope slide board.  Art and science may be their own reward, but if your mosaic pleases the judges the best, you'll also collect the first place ribbon at today’s exhibition!

Diatoms was honored to win the 2023 Cardboard Edison award for best unpublished board game. We are excited to be bringing this award-winning, beautiful, thinky game to your table!

In The Box

How To Play

Want to try the game now? There is a public demo available on Screentop during the campaign: https://screentop.gg/@ludoliminal/Diatoms-demo. (Backers at the Digital Diatoms tier and above will get access to a backer-edition on Screentop.)

Solo Variant

In Commissions, the in-box solo variant for Diatoms, you explore the algae pond to find diatoms just like in the main game. But rather than pleasing the panel of judges, you've been "commissioned" to create a diatom mosaic with particular requirements. Each commission is a puzzle to solve and each time you return to the algae pond, your diatom-hunting luck may change! Create the commissioned mosaic as required without squandering too many diatoms to successfully complete the commission.

Diatoms will ship with a solo campaign of 36 commissions and a log to track your level of success as establish your reputation as a premier diatomaceous artist. The game also includes a Beat-Your-Own-Score-style log for each of the Guest Judges for solo play that mirrors the standard 2-4 player game.

(If you're curious to give Commissions a spin, there are four demo prototype puzzles in the public demo on Screentop: https://screentop.gg/@ludoliminal/Diatoms-demo and there are 30+ Commissions available in the Screentop Backer Edition, if you become a Digital Diatoms backer or higher.)

Shipping Estimates

These are estimate shipping prices. The actual costs of shipping could change based on many circumstances. Final shipping will be charged through the pledge manager* after the campaign ends and as we get closer to shipping. We are working with regional shipping partners in the US, Canada, EU, UK, and Asia to provide backer-friendly shipping in these regions. Depending on your location, you may also be required to pay Sales Tax, GST, HST, or VAT on purchases and imports. Our goal is facilitate these payments for backers in the pledge manager so that no taxes or fees are due at the time of delivery.

 You may add-on additional copies of the game to your pledge. We will provide discounted shipping rates for multiple copies. We can not split orders destinations. Each backer can ship to 1 location. Don't see your country on our list? Reach out and we'll see what we can do.

* A "pledge manager" is how most crowdfunds manager backer orders after the campaign. It will allow you to update your shipping address, pay for shipping and taxes, and even add-on items to your order if you like. You will receive your pledge manager link after the campaigns is over and before shipping begins. We currently plan to use Hive - www.hiveinteractive.net - as our pledge manager.

A Lost Victorian Artform

Diatom mosaics are real!  The creation of these tiny mosaics of painstakingly-arranged algae cells was a practice of scientific art that peaked during the Victorian era of the late 1800s. Individuals would create these miniature arrangements and sometimes sell the slides and photographs to wealthy naturalist collectors. 

Check out the short video below featuring the most prolific modern-day practioner, the late Klaus Kemp, and read more about diatom mosaics here and here.  

What Others are Saying

For Retailers

For Retailers: If you are a retailer and are interested in carrying Diatoms, wonderful! We've made a low-cost Retailer Pledge tier just for you. Purchase at this tier to reserve access to Keystone pricing for the game, along with a free demo copy, and retailer-friendly shipping.  More details will be shared after the campaign ends.

About Us

This is our first in-house-published board game, though we’ve collectively made many games of all sorts prior to this through our various professional & personal work.  Sign-up for our newsletter at ludoliminal.com.  Ludoliminal is comprised of:

Terms & Conditions

This project, while close to completion, is still being finalized. By pledging, you acknowledge that the final look, materials, content, and retail pricing of the rewards and game are subject to change and may differ from what is presented while the Kickstarter project was active.

In order to fulfill your , information including your address may be required. You are responsible for confirming your pledge, address and other information required to ship your rewards. If you do not confirm your pledge and information within 12 weeks of our notification via email, you agree that we have fulfilled our obligations to you in full for payments received. That said, we may, at our discretion, refund or ship your pledge if you contact us and confirm your pledge after this 12 week window has elapsed. 
If shipping attempts to your provided address have failed, you will be responsible for any additional postage/shipping costs to ship out your rewards again.