Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Treasure World is a video game with a unique concept. The point of the game is to fuel a space rocket that crash landed on Earth and along the way you find lots of treasures with the help of your trusty Wish Finder. The game is based on finding Wi-Fi access points in the real world. You don't need to have passwords or anything, just recognize they are there. The point is to collect items and display them in your game and link up to the Club Treasure World online and share your displays with the world.

What's Hot
There aren't many games that dare break the mold of a successful concept or idea. That is Treasure World's number one goal. The visuals might look Animal Crossing-esque but that is where the similarities really stop. The very core of what you do in Treasure World is mainly two things. The first of which is collecting things. You want to amass a huge inventory of items that would make a flea market look like a toy store the day before Christmas, baron and empty. The second thing you do is explore.

This is the part of the review that would normally go into detail about the design aspect of adventuring in a digital world. The problem here is that you don't really explore much of a world inside the game. The actual game world is, paradoxically, the real world. Using the DS Wi-Fi capabilities, you discover items just by exploring your neighborhood or by doing your daily, mundane chores. Flip the DS closed and let the game search for Wi-Fi points. It is amazing how many access points there are out there. If you live in a place near Silicon Valley, you'll probably find more access points than someone living in a rural town. That doesn't matter because the no matter how many Wi-Fi signals your find, you'll still collect items and you'll still have a memorable time hunting for more.

What do you do with all these items you collect? Good question. Each item is assigned with a tone that can be placed in your virtual plot of land. The land is grid based and each grid is assigned a musical note. You can create up to four measures of melody or rhythm using the items you find. What's the point? Better question. Treasure World also features a unique social networking site on the internet that is accessible via web browser. After you input a special code from your DS to the registration page, you can view all your game data online and share it with friends and discover wonderful musical landscapes other people with Treasure World have created. Treasure World, as you can see, is one of those games that uses the DS in a wonderfully new and exciting way.



What's Not
There are limitations to Treasure World. You might not initially see the value in playing a game that offers limited virtual gameplay. Only when you get outside and start walking around looking for Wi-Fi points will you begin to see the grander scheme behind the design of the game. If you are never inclined to get out of the house and explore the real world, the excitement of seeing what you can find is drastically limited to the scheduled times you can find new items.

Building musical landscapes is a robust feature until you run into the biggest limitation of the game. There are only a handful of measures you can utilize and craft a song. There was the potential to have Treasure World be the next Mario Paint composer but it fell way short. I'm sure lawyers were frowning upon any decision that could lead people to replicate Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up."

Treasure World consists of exploring and music making. Beyond that, there isn't much else of a game. It isn't nearly as deep or involving as Animal Crossing or allows you to do a fraction of what those collection based types of games allow. It can feel limiting to be confined to a single idea if you don't use the Club Treasure World to its full extent. The beginning feels like the game will open up slowly and get you more into the world but that moment never happens while you keep collecting new items to display.

Final Word
Treasure World is much like an acquired taste. When you first bite into the game you'll wonder where all the fancy levels and character interactions went. Then you'll quickly discover the bigger concept at work where you have to explore the real world to find new game items. Treasure World isn't for everybody but the innovation is undeniable.