Q: What is a treasure hunt?
A: A "treasure hunt" is the term used by adventurers where the objective of the game is to search for a number of valuable objects in the game world and return them to a specific location. The valuable objects are your "treasures" and the specific location is the "treasure room".
The very first text adventures were all treasure hunts. In 'ADVENT' (Willie Crowther & Don Woods), the objective was to find 15 treasures that were scattered about in an underground cave and return them to the well-house (treasure room).
In 'Dungeon' (Timothy A. Anderson, Marc S. Blank, Bruce K. Daniels and P. David Lebling), the precursor to the 'Zork' series, the objective was much the same, except that the well-house was replaced by a white building (treasure room).
In 'Adventureland' (Scott Adams), the objective was to find 13 treasures, but you didn't know where the treasure room was until you got a little way into the game. Adams introduced a convention in this game that is still quite common to this day. Treasures were denoted by asterisks like so: *Gold ring*. The game jam requires a similar convention, except using colour. You might like to use both conventions, as sight-impaired players might not be able to distinguish colours.
All these games had two things in common: the treasures were valuable items like gold, silver and jewels, and they were scattered about like a mad woman's breakfast. There was no rationale for how they got there. There is nothing particularly wrong with that, but in the modern era, things tend to have a back story or a logical explanation.
Treasures don't have to be gold and diamonds. They only have to be something that is valuable or useful within the context of the game. Similarly, the treasure room doesn't have to be a bank vault. Here are a few ideas for treasure hunts that aren't obviously treasure hunts. Feel free to use or modify any of these ideas yourself. In fact, some of the ideas are from other obscure games anyway.
- A gang of robbers have escaped from gaol (or jail, if you're American) in an old west town. As the sheriff, it's your job to round up the robbers (treasures) and return them to gaol (treasure room).
- Your mum has just cooked a pavlova, but she needs some fruit to decorate it. She gives you a list of the fruit she needs (passionfruit, kiwi fruit, banana, strawberries) and it's your job to find the fruits (treasures) and return them to the kitchen (treasure room).
- Your Scout or Guide leader has set you a scavenger hunt. You have to find all the items on the list (treasures) and return them to the Scout or Guide hall (treasure room).
- An evil ogre has stolen several religious artifacts from your village. It is up to you to find the artifacts (treasures) and return them to the village's temple (treasure room).
- You have been on holidays in a tropical paradise and spent all your money. You suddenly realise that you don't have enough money to pay for your fare home. However, there is a pawnbroker on the island. You must scrounge up enough valuable items (treasures) to take to the pawnbroker (treasure room) to get enough money to pay for your fare home.
- You are an alien who is visiting Earth. Your mission is to find a number of Earth artifacts (treasures) and return them to your spaceship (treasure room).
- On a routine trip to a mining settlement on a distant planet, your spaceship has a bad landing and is badly damaged. You must search the mines and the settlement for the replacement parts you need (treasures) and return them to the engine room of your spaceship (treasure room) to make repairs.
- You are a thief! You know that the owners of the Adventuron Mansion have gone to a dinner party, so this is your chance to break in, find all their gold and jewels (treasures) and return them to your car (treasure room).
Get the idea?