Games like Pokemon and Animal Crossing have acquired huge fan bases for many reasons, but one of the biggest is their focus on collecting. By letting their players find and collect lots of decorative or ornamental items, these games allow a level of customization and personalization that’s pretty addicting. Developers Aspyr Media has taken this idea and run with it in the new DS treasure-collecting title Treasure World.

Treasure World sees players helping an intergalactic traveler known as the Star Sweeper. This old man’s spaceship has run out of fuel, and he needs your help to get it up and running again. His ship runs on stardust, and in return for collecting some for him the Star Sweeper will trade you some of his treasures, which you can then use to customize the game world to your liking. He’s got a robot called the Wish Finder that will help you, but for the most part it’s up to you and your DS to find the stardust.

Instead of searching the game world for the stardust, however, you’ll be searching the real world, using the DS’s Wi-Fi capabilities. Apparently, the wireless signals put out by PCs, cell phones, and other electronic devices generate stardust and even treasure, and you can collect these simply by bringing your DS within range. While in Search mode your DS will register each wireless connection it detects. When you’ve finished searching you can look at and “open” the different signals you discovered; the game then uses technical data sent by the wireless signal to generate either stardust or new treasures for you to use in the game.

 
Searching puts your DS on standby so you can close it, then explore in search of Wi-Fi signals.

There are literally thousands of different treasures to be found. Treasure could be anything from trees and plants, decorative items like statues and pillars, items to personalize the Wish Finder robot, like clothing, hair styles, or facial expressions, and even seasonal gear like jack o’ lanterns, snowmen, and Christmas trees. Suffice it to say that anyone wanting to complete the game 100% has their work cut out for them. Once you’ve found a treasure it’s yours to do with it as you will, which mostly means using them to decorate either the Wish Finder or the moonlit field where the game takes place.

 
There are sets of themed treasures, allowing you to decorate your robot
and field as you see fit. This player has gone with a pirate theme.

The treasures you place in your field aren’t just for decoration, though. Each treasure has a musical tone associated with it, like “High Trumpet” or “8-Bit Tone”, and the location you choose to place that item determines the note of the tone. Once you’ve filled your field with the items of your choosing you can “play” the song your treasure creates. With enough hard work and patience it would be possible to create songs in this way, though your field is only big enough to allow for a few seconds of music.

Treasure collectors can also access Club Treasure World, the game’s integrated Web site. By creating an account players can link their copy of the game to the site, which uploads an exact copy of your customized Wish Finder and field to their site. From there you can talk to and trade treasures with other players, map out where exactly you found certain treasures, and share your created music.

 
Club Treasure World is a social networking site that lets you interact with other Treasure World players
and show off your personal treasures to the world.

If it sounds underwhelming, that’s because it kind of is. Truth be told, there’s not much game here – no town to explore or neighbors to befriend like in Animal Crossing, no enemies to fight or storyline to finish. You can find new treasures, decorate your world and your robot, and create short musical sequences, and that’s about it. And while just finding all the different treasures would definitely take a while, some players are bound to be turned off the game by the simple fact that there isn’t really anything to do.

But that’s missing the point. Since the game keeps track of which wireless signals you’ve already found, if you want to keep finding new treasures you have to keep finding new Wi-Fi spots. When I found myself taking a different route to the store just in hopes of finding new treasure locations, I suddenly realized what the game was trying to do. The “game” in Treasure World isn’t in the DS cartridge, it’s out in the real world. By forcing you to search your home, town, or neighborhood for new wireless signals, Treasure World is sending you out on a real-life treasure hunt.

Assigning a score to something like Treasure World is tough: it doesn’t really fit the established definition of a “video-game”, but it’s fun nonetheless. It uses the DS hardware in unique and interesting ways, and it makes the simple act of carrying a closed DS around town fun and exciting. If you’re not a fan of collect-a-thons there’s little chance you’ll get into this, but for anyone looking for a very different experience, Treasure World can get quite addicting.

Gameplay: 7.0
You’re pretty limited when it comes to interacting with the treasures you find, or with any aspect of the game, for that matter. Most of the fun you’ll have with Treasure World comes from scouring your neighborhood for new wireless signals. Some will find it enthralling, some will be bored, but there’s no denying that it’s different.

Graphics: 7.4
Treasure World is a good looking game, due more to nice artistic design than any impressive technical achievements. Every treasure you collect is visually unique, giving you tons of options for decorating your field. The field is only lit by the perpetually bright moon, so every item and decoration you place has a long shadow, which looks really great when the field is full.

Sound: 7.1
There’s very little pre-made music in the game; rather, you can create your own music by carefully arranging the objects you’ve found in your field. There are tons and tons of different instruments and effects you can use, but your compositions are fairly limited in size.

Difficulty: Easy
Playing Treasure World depends on your ability to uncover new wireless signals. If you live in the city, this will be easy; rural gamers will have a much harder time. Nevertheless, a simple walk or drive to school or the store is usually enough to fill your inventory with tons of new treasures.

Multiplayer: 8.5
If you are dedicated to the game and utilize the Club Treasure World website, you can send messages, trade treasures, show off your field, and play your music for other players the world over. This social-networking aspect of the game is extensive, so players will never be at a loss for other players to interact with.

Concept: 8.8
The game’s innovative use of the DS’s technical abilities and Web site integration makes it one of the more inventive titles available today. If there’s a sequel, though, here’s hoping that they dedicate a little more energy to devising entertaining things you can do in the game.

Overall: 7.3
While it gets points for some serious innovation, it’s hard to say that Treasure World is a great game. It’s hard to call it a “game” at all, really. Rather, it’s a clever and fun toy, one that uses the DS’s technical capabilities for unique and addictive effect – fun for those who “get it,” but utterly pointless for those who don’t.