So, I happened to come across this game, and the idea of it is simply fascinating. A star sweeper has crashed and needs more star powder to re-power up his rocket, giving you control over his little star finder helper (a little robot) if you’ll give him a hand. Apparently, wi-fi hotspots have the same frequency as star powder, so you’re asked to find as many to help the old sweep get going again. In exchange, you can use the powder to buy treasures, as well as find treasures within the wi-fi hotspots themselves.
It’s definitely an interesting way to use the DS and definitely quite enjoyable to go ‘treasure hunting’ in a crowded city filled with wifi cafes. There are various amounts of treasures to be found, some that help you decorate the world, some that help you play music and sounds, and others that let you dress and configure the star finder actions and emotes.
Now, the good bit is that the idea is intriguing, and that there’s definitely a slew of items to find. If you find sets of items, they unlock even more items and sets for you to collect. This even brings about the idea of reinforcing children to get out and see the outside world a bit more than just sitting around and fiddling with the DS (or any other console) all day.
But there’s a few bits that stop me from enjoying the game completely. Firstly, the world of the game in itself is very limited. You’re basically stuck in this one area where you set items down in order for you to play its music, and that’s it. Even the menus all encompass that one area. You never move anywhere else, and unless there’s another area/planet to play in after you rocket that fuel, it seems a waste of creativity in environment.
The game itself is small in scope. You’ve got the music maker, the treasure finding, and the costuming of the star finder robot. The music player is fun here and there, but it’s no Elektroplankton, and it can get somewhat tedious setting up the objects to play. Even then, that’s all there is to the music player (set up, play). You don’t really play with the treasure, and playing dress up with the star finder robot only goes so far. There’s no filler mini-games, and the cheat to it all is that you’re asked to sign up to Club Treasure World, the game’s website, to bring out even more content (ironically, when I went to check the site out, I kept getting a 500 internal server error message, and then eventually the site couldn’t even be accessed at all). But even that content is sparse, a social site equivalent to sharing codes and treasure, getting awards, and not much else in the form of actual game play entertainment.
Had they modified the game just a bit to add more function to what you find, perhaps I’d be twice as enthusiastic as I am now. Though I cheer for the game’s premise (I love finding loot), once the treasure’s found, there’s not much else to do. And woe be to that one kid, stuck in the countryside, with not much to connect to and little treasure to be found. Once I’ve found all there is around my home, and I know I won’t be out till the weekend, what use is the game till I’m able to get out more?
Still, the idea of the game is sound, and if they could adapt it to other addicting games, there’s hope for something even better. Just think, if wi-fi hotspots unlocked monsters instead, a variation of pokemon or monster rancher. Or perhaps instead opening the game’s world to be bigger, like that of animal crossing, where the treasure decorates the player, the neighborhood, and let’s you live and play in that area, building up a whole city from the treasure itself. How about if each treasure was an encapsulated city and it unlocked mini-areas to explore. That clamshell isn’t just a clamshell, but the pathway to an Atlantis neighborhood. How about if treasures aren’t just wearable items or musical objects, but actual mini-games.
There is so much creativity that could be harnessed and used, and Treasure World is the stepping stone to an even bigger treasure-filled universe if it were built upon.
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There were some hiccups this morning with the web site, but Club Treasure World is up and running now.
