Not every video game needs an in depth story line or extensive crafting system to be enjoyable. Sometimes you just need an enjoyable game loop to fill the time. So after wrapping up Lost and Found Co I really wanted something easy to fill the hours after work.
During Steam’s Cozy Job Simulator Sale I came across Rogue Duck Interactive’s Treasure Beach. It’s a job simulator that has you raking beaches to find items to sell at your beach-side store. You can improve your tools, haggle with customers and save the island from pollution and a massive hotel being built.
Right off the bat, the message of this game is great. Who can’t get behind supporting a small community, cleaning up beaches, recycling, saving marine life and fighting against big corporations? I absolutely love games that come with great messages.
The gameplay loop for Treasure Beach is relatively straightforward. Rake the beach and find objects you can either repair or recycle. Hit the recycling center, clean and repair goods, stop by the fair, talk to fellow islanders and then sell your goods. Wash, rinse, repeat. And frankly, I didn’t hate it, but after 9 hours of playing it gets really repetitive.
The beginning of the playthrough was fun. Exploring new areas, unlocking different things and upgrading tools in the workshop felt worth it. In the beginning fixing items are limited until you unlock different techniques. These added a little variety, but even that became repetitive.
As I was perusing the Steam Store page for Treasure Beach, another review from player Zithoraxe shared that on the back end it looks like the video game might have been built for a phone. If this is true, it makes total sense to the structure of the game loop and how a new day would be started.
Let me be clear though, I enjoyed my time with Treasure Beach. My biggest gripe is not having enough to do to break up the in day games. If I could make one request, it would be to expand further on the little mini games at the fair and the shell game. These could really help break up the flow and give us something else to enjoy.
In the end, do I think Treasure Beach is a must play game? No. But, if you want something that is cozy, not hard to understand and easy to play to fill short down time periods, it’s definitely worth checking out. Just make sure to temper your expectations and you are sure to have a good time.
Treasure Beach is available now on Steam.
Julia Writes Nerdy 
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