Lost Treasure (board game)

Lost Treasure, a board game from Parker Brothers released in 1982, was marketed as an electronic deep-sea diving game. Players hunt for sunken chests of gold and silver. The game arrived during a pivotal shift in the industry, as home video game consoles began to dominate sales.

The board resembles a nautical chart of two island groups: Temptation Bay and the Sea of Opportunity. Each archipelago contains two ports where treasure can be sold for cash. A 24x24 grid is printed on the board, divided into 64 sectors of 3x3 squares each.

Players move red, yellow, white, or green boat pieces one square at a time in any direction, based on dice rolls. Four gold and four silver buoys help narrow the search area. There are 16 treasure chests, each filled with either gold or silver. Money comes in three denominations: $50,000 (green), $100,000 (gold), and $500,000 (blue).

The core of the game is the handheld Electronic Dive Control Center, powered by a 9-volt battery. It automatically resets at the start of each game, randomly assigning treasure locations. It produces chip music sounds to signal events. The device has two indicator sets and three button sets. On the left, six red LEDs show scuba tank air, dive depth, and treasure value (ranging from $100,000 to $350,000). A compass rose with five LEDs lights up to give directions. A vertical row of four buttons (two for gold, two for silver: N–S and E–W) preface location guesses. A 9-button grid is used to enter specific coordinates. A 4-button panel on the right includes “Air” (to fill tanks), “Up” (to surface), “$ Value” (to reveal chest value), and “Clear” (to undo a data entry mistake).

The first player to earn $1,000,000 wins. Money comes from selling treasure at one of the eight ports. The Dive Control randomly assigns treasure locations when powered on; treasure cannot be on land but can be in a port. Players guess the location of a gold or silver chest. To move, they roll dice and move that many squares in any direction on water—overland travel is not allowed. When a player reaches a sector they suspect holds a chest, they fill their scuba tanks and dive. The chest’s depth affects whether the player can surface before running out of air. If they surface with the treasure, the Dive Control assigns a monetary value. Players must then return to port to sell it. Any ship carrying treasure can be raided by anoth