Treasure Hunt in the Pirate Sea

From Research Realm
LEGO Pirates Treasure Hunt
Publisher(s)The LEGO Group
Platform(s)Web browser
Release24 October 1996[1]
Genre(s)Adventure game
Mode(s)Single-player

Treasure Hunt in the Pirate Sea (also called LEGO Pirates Treasure Hunt) is a 1996 browser-based adventure game based on the LEGO Pirates product line. The player controls a LEGO minifigure exploring the titular Pirate Sea on a quest to find treasure. The game world contains obstacles and enemies for the player to navigate around and treasures for the player to collect for points.

Treasure Hunt was released in October 1996 and was the first LEGO web game published on LEGO.com, which had launched earlier that year. Announced as an "advertainment" game, it was part of a new plan for marketing LEGO to children on the internet.

Gameplay

Screenshot of the game, showing the interface and several different map features

Treasure Hunt has the player take the role of a LEGO Pirates minifigure who has been appointed as the King's personal treasure hunter. The evil pirate Captain Redbeard (who the player's character resembles) hid all his treasure on a secret island in the Pirate Sea many years ago, and the player has been tasked with finding it. The player is given the option to talk to "the old treasure hunters in the king's city" before playing,[note 1] or to start the game straight away.[2]

The game is tile-based and takes place on a 14×14 grid, which the player starts on the southern side of. Only a 3×3 area around the player can be seen at any time, though there is also an overview map of the entire world. Clicking on any of the adjacent tiles will move the player to that tile, if it is not blocked. The game world has three main types of features scattered across it: treasures for the player to collect, enemies for the player to avoid, and islands that the player has to navigate around. The player starts with twenty points,[note 2] and each move to a different tile costs one point. Collecting treasure increases the player's points, while sailing into an enemy takes away points. There are also three special items on the map: a shovel, a message in a bottle, and a crown.

Release

Captain Redbeard
Captain Redbeard

Treasure Hunt was released on the LEGO World Wide Web Site on 24 October 1996.[1] [3] Advergame

Notes

  1. The page this option links to is not archived, so it is unknown what it was – possibly either hints or further instructions.
  2. The archived copy of the game starts with 19 points remaining and 1 step taken.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Nipper, Mads (24 October 1996). "LEGO Pirates come to life on the Internet". LEGO World Wide Web Press Info. The LEGO Group. Archived from the original on 1997-01-10.
  2. "LEGO Pirates Treasure Hunt". LEGO World Wide Web. The LEGO Group. Archived from the original on 1997-01-10.
  3. "Hey kids! Check out the LEGO Home Page!". LEGO Mania Magazine. No. 14 (US ed.). Enfield: LEGO Systems, Inc. January 1997. p. 20. You'll find: A Pirate Game you can play to find buried treasure and an Exploriens Game