Previews | Preferred Partner Feature

Otter Ocean Treasure Hunt preview - Save the seas by caring for otter friends

Warning: These adorable otters may cause death by cute

Otter Ocean Treasure Hunt preview - Save the seas by caring for otter friends
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| Otter Ocean

Imagine you’re a chubby little crab just minding your own business, living peacefully with your dearest family on the beach. But then a hurricane blows away everything and everyone you love most, leaving you helpless and alone, washed ashore without a place to call home. Thankfully, a friendly otter comes along to help you get back on your feet, promising to find your family for you because they’re just that awesome.

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Otter Ocean Treasure Hunt isn’t really all about that poor ol’ crab named Chris, but it’s part of the charm of the treasure collecting game - and frankly, it’s the extra little things like that that really pull me into a game.

At its core, Otter Ocean Treasure Hunt is essentially a cutesy collection game that tasks you to rescue poor otters (trapped in sardine cans) from the depths of the sea and recruit them into this group effort to dive around different locales for treasure. The so-called “treasure” can be anything from seashells (which serve as the in-game currency) to random junk you can put together to create thingamajigs like sea radios and other trinkets. The treasure that you find ends up as decor around the beach, which lets you both clean up the ocean and prettify your surroundings at the same time.

Every so often, you might just go on a dive and come up to the surface with another otter friend. Otters you collect can be renamed and can vary in rarity. They also have their own favorite food, and when they’re nice and full, you can use them to go on more dives to different spots. Sometimes, an otter can get dirty or even fall ill, so you need to groom them, give them some medicine, and feed them - basically, you need to shower your otters with lots of TLC, which really isn’t hard to do given just how cute they are.

Speaking of death by cute, these otters have the whole concept of “kawaii” down pat. They all have unique looks and can definitely give Sanrio characters a run for their money.

Of course, this very same cuteness is what will tempt you to spend IRL money in the game, as you can buy packs in the shop that contain rare otters and discounted food bundles. If you’re more of a free-to-play gamer, there’s no shortage of 30-second ads you can watch to refresh items in the marketplace, go for another free dive, or score more seashells from the occasional pufferfish floating around your screen. Eventually, as you collect more otters and go on more dives to reach certain completion percentages, you can unlock more areas to dive in and explore more of the world around you.

The relaxing and non-demanding nature of the game is one of its most appealling features. The duration of each dive will vary, so you can log off while waiting for your otter friends to come back from their adventures, or collect rewards even when you’re offline. You can also just tinker around and expect to see something new each time you boot up the game.

Overall, Otter Ocean Treasure Hunt offers a fresh and adorable way for players to be more aware of cleaning up the ocean and of adorable otters in general, all in the guise of a too-cute and too-relaxing game. Mechanics are not at all complicated, and you can easily sit down for a casual session or two whenever you need a break from the humdrum of everyday life.

More content will be added soon, as well as events players can participate in when the game is officially launched, so make sure to follow Finifugu Games on Facebook and Instagram to get the latest scoop. You can also pre-order the game right now for either iOS or Android.

Catherine Dellosa
Catherine Dellosa
Catherine plays video games for a living and writes because she’s in love with words. Her Young Adult contemporary novel, For The Win: The Not-So-Epic Quest Of A Non-Playable Character, is her third book published by Penguin Random House SEA - a poignant love letter to gamer geeks, mythological creatures, teenage heartbreak, and everything in between. She one day hopes to soar the skies as a superhero, but for now, she strongly believes in saving lives through her works in fiction. Check out her books at bit.ly/catherinedellosabooks, or follow her on FB/IG/Twitter at @thenoobwife.