Go Wi-Fi hunting with your DS in 'Treasure World'

— -- The concept behind Treasure World, a new and innovative game for the Nintendo DS, is a relatively straightforward one — but completing it will take time, patience and a lot of exploration in the real world.

Your objective is to collect thousands of treasures for your little alien character, who is stranded on Earth, by walking, driving or cycling in your neighborhood and letting the DS, or the newer DSi, detect Wi-Fi networks from homes or businesses.

Regardless of whether these hot spots are open or secure, every time a new network is detected you'll hear your game system chime to confirm new "stars" have been found, which can then be converted into valuable treasures for your character. Treasures can range from articles of clothing and dance moves to facial features and hairstyles to trees and statues to music notes, songs and brief bits of dialogue.

Consider this game a 21st century scavenger hunt, if you will, and to ensure you're not walking into people, lampposts or traffic, you're encouraged to close the clamshell DS or DSi and the hunt for Wi-Fi connections will continue uninterrupted.

Once you convert stars into treasures, or buy new treasure items from your fearless spaceship pilot, you can dress up your character with the items, drop them into your customizable world or lay them down to create unique "songscapes." You can also change the tempo and pitch of your songscapes, or melodies, record your favorites or choose from 150 classic tunes.

You are also challenged to complete constellations, clusters and galaxies — all of which are collections of similar items. This can get quite challenging, and time consuming, but proves rewarding to those who take the time to amass a huge treasure collection.

An optional game-play component involves going online with the handheld to share treasures with other DS or DSi gamers or signing up for a free account with ClubTreasureWorld.com on a computer and communicating with other Treasure World players.