Treasure Isle

Treasure Isle is a time management game from Zynga that involves you searching beautiful tropical isles for treasure chests. While it sounds like a very simple concept for a game, it is a bit challenging as Zynga makes you work off of an energy bar — similar to Mafia Wars — so you cannot just sit and go through the islands all in one day. You have to time your energy so that you can go through the islands, find the treasures, and level. Of course, along the way you will have friends and neighbors that will help you, and you can help them. Treasure Isle is a very unique and fun Facebook game that is growing in leaps and bounds, and with players rocketing past others, you are probably wondering what it is they are doing that is getting them ahead so fast. In this guide, we'll go through Treasure Isle and give you the information that you need to be one of those players that can just power level without trying too hard and without sitting at your computer 24/7 waiting for energy to refill.

So, let's get into more detailed information about Treasure Isle so that you will learn how to play it well and rocket past your friends and neighbors.

How It Works

Treasure Isle basically works like other Zynga games. There are a few main parts to the game that you'll have to learn to coordinate just right to get ahead. These things are:

1. Helping your friends by visiting their islands and helping them with a task
2. Digging for treasures on the islands listed on your maps
3. Completing these islands for a boost to your xp and coins
4. Collecting and completing treasure sets from finding treasure chests as you dig
5. Buying items for your home island to gain experience points
6. Using all of these things in conjunction with each other to level your character

Doesn't sound like much does it? It actually ends up being a lot, especially when you get up there in levels. So, you have to get a system in place early on so that when you have hundreds of neighbors, tons of islands to explore, and so many different collections to keep track of you won't get confused and miss out on something. Keep in mind that just like all of the Zynga games on Facebook, you'll need to use your neighbors to get ahead, so don't neglect them!

When you start out in Treasure Isle, the first thing that you will do is create your character. Those that play YoVille will be familiar with all of the options and looks, as the characters are the same.  You will start by choosing a girl or boy character and then you'll get to fully customize them, from their face to their hair to their eyes to their clothing. And, if you decide that you are tired of that look later on in the game, you can easily change it so that your character will be different.

Once you have your character set up, the game will start you with the tutorial that will show you everything you need to know about the game, moving around, treasure hunting and more. Of course, we'll get into that in a little bit. First, let's go through the interface of the game so you will know exactly where everything is, what the different icons do and how to use them when you need them.

Like all Zynga games, there are small icons around your screen that will allow you to do specific things. Below, you'll see a screen shot of the game's interface labeled with everything you'll be using throughout the game:

1. Graphics Quality: You can toggle the graphics quality for different systems to help the game run better.
2. Sounds On/Off: You can turn the sounds of the game on and off with this icon.
3. Music On/Off: You can turn the music of the game on and off with this icon.
4. Coins: This shows you how many coins you have.
5. Add Coins and Cash: This icon takes you to the page where you can purchase coins or cash for Treasure Isle.
6. Cash: This shows you how much cash you have.
7. Energy Bar: This shows you how much energy you currently have as well as how much energy you have when it's full, and how long until you get more.
8. Experience Bar: This shows you your current level, how much experience you have, and you can mouse over it to see how much more experience you need to go before you gain another level
9. Island Name: This is the name of your home island, right now, you cannot change this so it will just show your name.
10. Gift Box: This will allow you easy access to the gift page where you can send items to your friends.
11. Fruit and Energy Icons: There will be different icons here when you go through the game that will allow you to send fruit, ask for fruit, or ask for energy packs from friends.
12. Zoom In: This icon will allow you to zoom in closer to your character in the game.
13. Zoom Out: This icon will allow you to zoom out to get a better view of things in the game.
14. Full Screen: For those that like to play on full screen mode, you can simply hit this icon and be on full screen in no time.
15. Arrow: This is your multi-tool (just like in FarmVille) and you'll use it for just about everything.
16. Shovel: This is your dig tool
17. Treasure Chest: This is where you'll find the different collections that you are working on. On each different island,you'll be finding treasures that will make up these collections. Each collection has five pieces and once you collect them all, you can go here to trade them in. (We'll go through the different collections later on.)
18. Map: This is where you can go to visit islands on your maps to dig for treasure.
19. Store: Just like any good Facebook game, you've got to have a store to buy goodies for your home island and energy packs when you run out.
20. Backpack: This is where fruit, gems, and gift items will go. You can open this in any area to use fruit to refill your energy, or open it when you're at your home island so that you can use your gifts.
21. Neighbors: This is where you'll find a list of your neighbors that you can visit. When you click on their picture, you will have the option to send them a gift or to visit their island.
22. Your Boat: You can click on your boat to travel to different islands to hunt for treasure.
23. Plots: This is where you'll grow fruit.
24. Gem Tree: Everyone has a different colored gem tree: blue, red, orange, purple, or green. You can gather gems from your tree once a day and share some with friends as well.

Now that you know how to work the interface of Treasure Isle, you will have an easier time in the game finding what you need. In the next chapter, we'll go through the basic fundamentals of playing, as well as help you with some basic items that will help you more than anything in Treasure Isle.