About the Gemstones Spot the Difference Game
Diamonds, crystals, crowns and buried treasure — the gemstone deck glitters with everything a rockhound or jewel thief could dream of. Dig deep and unearth the matching pairs.
What's on the Gemstones boards
The pictures the two boards are built from — 12 in all: 💎 Diamond💍 Ring👑 Crown📿 Beads⛏️ Pickaxe🪨 Rock✨ Sparkle🔮 Crystal Ball🏺 Treasure Jar💰 Treasure🗝️ Vault Key🕳️ Mine Shaft
Study tip: scan the left board in the same order every time — top-left to bottom-right — and check its twin against that order. The difference between diamond and ring is easy to spot; a missing crown in the wrong corner is not, unless your scan is systematic.
How to memorise a nature board
Nature decks are scenes waiting to happen. Put the sun or moon at the top of your mental image, weather in the middle band, and plants and terrain at the bottom — a three-layer landscape. When you need to recall whether the mushroom was there, you check the forest floor layer, not the whole board.
Use the seasons as a story spine: blossom, then fruit, then falling leaves, then snow. If the deck's items can be walked through in seasonal order once, the order itself becomes a checklist you can replay mentally whenever you are hunting a missing pair.
How to Play
- Press Start. Two boards appear, looking identical.
- Compare them tile by tile — one has been swapped for something different.
- Tap the changed tile, on either board, before the timer runs out.
- Each round adds more tiles and less time. Three misses ends the run.
Fun Facts About Gemstones
- Diamonds are made of pure carbon — the same element as pencil lead.
- Rubies and sapphires are the same mineral, corundum, in different colours.
- The biggest diamond ever found, the Cullinan, weighed over 3,100 carats rough.
- Each month of the year has its own traditional birthstone.
Nature deck questions
Do nature themes suit older players?
Yes — gardens, weather and landscapes are familiar at every age, which makes the boards friendly rather than childish. Many care-home activity sessions use exactly this kind of deck for gentle reminiscence.
How do I stop the green tiles blurring together?
Anchor on shape, not colour. A leaf, a fern and a clover are all green but wildly different silhouettes — memorise the outlines and the colour stops mattering.