Software:Treasure Cove!

From HandWiki
Short description: 1992 computer game
Treasure Cove!
Treasure Cove! CD-ROM cover
Developer(s)The Learning Company
Publisher(s)The Learning Company
Platform(s)Windows, MS-DOS, Macintosh
Release1992
Genre(s)Educational /Adventure
Mode(s)Single player

Treasure Cove! is an educational computer game published by The Learning Company in 1992 for MS-DOS, Windows and Macintosh PCs. It is aimed at children ages 5 to 9 and is intended to teach children reading, math, and oceanography.[1] Treasure Cove! is the 9th installment of The Learning Company's Super Seekers games.[2]

Treasure Cove! is a side-scrolling educational adventure game whose objective is to restore the destroyed rainbow bridge by collecting gems throughout the cove. To find the gems, the player must correctly answer simple math and reading questions asked by starfish to get clues about where they are hidden.[1] It earned generally positive reviews as well as an award at the 1993 Summer Consumer Electronics Show.[3]

Gameplay

Treasure Cove! is a side-scrolling educational adventure game. The player's objective is to plug pipes that are leaking oil into the ocean. The game takes place in the fictional Treasure Cove, which is being polluted with byproducts from experiments done by the Master of Mischief, a common antagonist in The Learning Company's Super Seekers games. The player takes on the role of the Super Seeker, whose job is to plug the pipes leaking oil and rebuild the destroyed bridge to the island by finding gems in the cove in order to stop the pollution at its source.[4]

The cove has three separate areas that the player must visit and collect gems to plug the pipes that leak "goobies" by finding the puffer fish and dropping it on the opening. If a player hits a goobie, one light unit is taken from them. To find the puffer fish, the player must gather clues by catching orange starfish and answering their riddles. There are three clues per stage, each a single descriptive term such as "three", "swimming", or "eels". The player must then shine their flashlight on the group of animals that are described by clues to obtain the puffer fish. Shining light on a group of animals that matches two of the three clues will reveal a gem, adding points towards restoring the Rainbow Bridge. After finding gems and plugging leaks in each of the three areas, the player will surface and add the gems collected during the most recent game to the total gem count. When the player has collected a certain number of gems, the player goes up in star rank and the Rainbow Bridge is extended farther. Higher star ranks means that there are more gems to find, the riddles are more difficult, and the fish that steal light move faster and are harder to avoid.[1]

Development

Treasure Cove! is one of the four games of The Learning Company's "Treasure" series along with Treasure Mountain!, Treasure Mathstorm!, and Treasure Galaxy!. The "Treasure series" is a subgroup of the company's Super Solvers series. All the games in this series are math and reading comprehension oriented educational adventure games aimed at younger children. Games in the "Treasure" series all have the same three stage gameplay format where a special object, whose location can be deduced by answering questions, is needed to reach the next stage.[5]

Enhanced version

In 1994, an enhanced and more Windows-friendly version was released on CD-ROM.[1] In 1996 the game was updated to version 1.1 with better graphics and sound. In 1997 it was updated again to 2.0 with enhanced graphics and sound.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGameStarStarStarHalf star[6]
Abandonia3.0 out of 5[1]
Award
PublicationAward
Summer Consumer Electronics Show1993 Software Showcase Honor[3]

Treasure Cove! has received lukewarm to positive reviews. Lisa Savignano of Allgame gave the game 3.5/5 stars, stating that "it's a fun game young kids will love to play".[6] Abandonia reviewers felt the same, giving Treasure Cove! a rating of 3 out of 5.[1] Users at Home of the Underdogs gave Treasure Cove! two thumbs up saying that it is "another enjoyable release from The Learning Company, featuring the same attractive graphics and gameplay as their previous 'Super Solvers' games" and went on to describe Treasure Cove! as "one of the best math games ever made for 5-8 year olds, bar none".[7] On its debut, it earned Innovations 1993 Software Showcase Honors at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 guesst. "Super Solvers- Treasure Cove!". Abandonia. http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/1012/Super+Solvers+-+Treasure+Cove.html. Retrieved 2011-03-15. 
  2. ↑ Chris Martin. "Super Solvers series". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/super-solvers-series. Retrieved 2011-03-19. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "The Learning Company Inc.". Funding Universe. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/The-Learning-Company-Inc-Company-History.html. Retrieved 2011-03-20. 
  4. ↑ "Treasure Cove!". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game/treasure-cove. Retrieved 2011-03-19. 
  5. ↑ guesst. "Super Solvers: OutNumbered!". Abandonia. http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/1009/Super+Solvers+-+OutNumbered%21.html. Retrieved 2011-03-28. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Savignano, Lisa. "Treasure Cove! Review". Allgame. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=16957. Retrieved 2011-03-20. 
  7. ↑ Underdogs. "Super Solvers: Treasure Cove". Home of the Underdogs. http://www.homeoftheunderdogs.net/game.php?id=3266. Retrieved 2011-03-22. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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