Treasure Hunting

I enjoy board games. I have acquired a rather large collection (100+) over several years. 

As a child, Clue (or Cluedo in the U.K.) was my favorite, and I still have my 1972 edition of the game in my collection.  I loved the theme of being a detective and trying to solve a murder with each successive revelation or lack of evidence.  Originally published in the UK in 1949, it is still a popular game.  It has had many modernization updates and themed releases even as recently as last year. In fact, the popularity of Clue resulted in a comically light-hearted movie in 1985 with a (contemporary) star-studded cast of actors.

Another game I enjoyed in my youth was Sorry!.  I still have my 1972 edition of that game as well. Like many of the games of that period, including Clue, it utilized a game mechanic referred to as "roll-and-move" which, while still heavily used, it unfavorable among many hardcore board gamers.  Sorry! is also still selling and has had a number of upgrades, spin-offs, and themed releases.

My least favorite (read that as most despised) board game was, is, and forever will be Monopoly.  Now, it is quite probable that my detestation of it is because I never won a game, and my father and older brother would absolutely destroy me every time we played it when I was growing up.  Playing it with friends was no different.  However, it also is still very popular with an insane number of modernized updates and themed releases.  My animosity for the game is so great that I refuse to even purchase the Lord of the Rings edition - and if you know me and my love of all things Lord of the Rings, that speaks volumes of the level of my abhorrence of Monopoly.

Obviously if forced, I'd choose it over a Ouija board or tarot cards.  If a life depended on me playing it, I'd do it but I wouldn't be at all happy about it.  I won't say I would sacrifice a limb to not play it, but it would be a more difficult decision... Prosthetics technology has greatly advanced.  (I'm kidding!)

Board games have changed considerably over the last several decades.  They have gotten more complex, provide a wide variety of themes, and utilize a vast number of game mechanics.  Many games now focus more heavily on strategy than on luck or at least attempt to strike a suitable balance between the two.  Board game enthusiasts want more freedom of player agency and options rather than relying mostly on the luck of a di roll or a card draw.  The more agency available, the more the game has replayability.

One of my favorite board games now is Forbidden Island.  It was created by Matt Leacock, produced by Gamewright, and released in 2010.  It is a fully cooperative game.  Since I'm not a very competitive person (stupid Monopoly), I really enjoy the cooperative aspect.  In fully cooperative games like Forbidden Island, the players either all win together or they all lose together.  

Forbidden Island is a game in which 2 to 4 players work together and plan together in order to defeat the game itself.  Because it is a fully cooperative game, it can be played by a single player using multiple characters.  The game is designed so that it can begin at varying levels of difficulty: Novice, Normal, Elite, or Legendary.  The game gets incrementally more difficult as it goes on.  

Because of its age, it is generally priced around $20-25 and can even be found in various retail stores.

The premise of the game is as follows:  

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An ancient civilization known as the Archean empire was highly advanced in knowledge and mystical arts.  In the course of time, their greatest scholars learned to control and master the powers of the four primal elements: earth, wind, fire, and water.  Those secrets were kept close, and the powers were harnessed inside four iconic objects, one object for each element: the earth stone, the statue of the wind, the crystal of fire, and the ocean's chalice.  Dedicated to peace, the Archeans would not use those powers unscrupulously. While the empire existed and they held power over the elements, there were none that could stand against them.  But as the Archean empire weakened and their civilization began to fail, they feared the destruction and devastation that these powers could wield if they fell into the wrong hands.  They carefully and secretly hid the objects of power at various locations around their island to keep them out of the hands of warmongers, tyrants, and other evil actors.

Reports of the objects had spread.  Reports became history; history became legend; and legend became myth.  The Archean island and its relics of power have been long sought for over the passage of thousands of years.

You assemble your team of up to four members choosing from among specialized professionals: an engineer, a pilot, a diver, an explorer, a navigator, and a messenger (aka courier).  Each potential team member brings a unique ability of their profession to the team. Finally, the location of the Archean island has at long last been discovered by your highly skilled team of capable adventurers. 

However, as soon as your team lands on the island you immediately learn of a new threat that the legends didn't warn of.  The Archeans left one last measure to ensure these powerful relics wouldn't fall into the wrong hands.  The island itself had been rigged to immediately begin sinking into the depths of the ocean if anyone set foot upon the island.

Beginning immediately, and with each subsequent turn, sections of the island are flooded.  If that section has already been flooded, it submerges and sinks to never resurface.  Flooded sections and be shored up which drains the water from that section, but it may soon flood again.  Which sections to shore up and which to sacrifice is a dicey necessity. Not only do you need to keep enough of the island above water to slow its full descent, you must also keep open a pathway for escape!

As the game progresses, the rate at which the island sinks increases.  It becomes a race against time as your team works cooperatively to gather enough information of a particular relic (4 cards of that relic) in order to capture the relic.  Your team must capture all four relics and escape the island before the landing area or the whole island completely sinks.

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The game more or less assumes the team members are more altruistic Indiana Jones types of relic hunters rather than greedy Emile Belloq types of fame and fortune treasure hunters.  At its basis though, the object of the game is about finding a treasure of great value.  

That isn't unlike real life.  We often spend our time trying to achieve some sort "treasure" whether it is actual wealth, collections, notoriety, security, or whatever.  It is a common eventuality that once a goal for those treasures has been achieved, it still isn't enough to satisfy.  The goal is then extended.

Jesus emphasizes in parables that the greatest treasure to be found is that of the kingdom of heaven.  

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."  

(Matthew 13:44)

In this statement, the man seems to just happen by luck and chance to find a treasure.  This would be like someone who is just floating through life living day by day. Then one day he has the gospel of eternal life through Christ revealed to him.  Recognizing its true worth, he forsakes all worldliness in order to gain that eternal life.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

(Matthew 13:45-46)

In this statement, the man is actively looking for a specificity of treasure.  This would be like someone actively seeking a greater meaning and spirituality of life.  He could be seeking other worldly religions (like Buddhism or Baha'i) or spiritualities (like New Age) and has the spiritual truth of the gospel of Christ revealed to him.  Recognizing the truth and worth of the gospel, he forsakes all other spiritualities and false religions to gain that life through Jesus.

The first of the Ten Commandments is "You shall have no other gods before Me.", meaning, nothing is to have precedence, priority, or supremacy in life over God.  Jesus reiterates the point by hitting it in a little more personal manner.

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it."

(Matthew 10:37-39)

Be careful to not read into the Jesus' words what is not there.  He is not saying we are not to love father, mother, son, or daughter, or not to respect them, or not to honor them.  Not only is honoring our parents itself one of the Ten Commandments, and one with a promise, but loving others as yourself is the "second greatest commandment".  But He is to have precedence, and because of our love for Him we would actually love them better than we could apart from Him.

In addition, we are to "take [our] cross and follow" Him.  Many people interpret this as to forgoing their own desires or accepting burdens like thankless jobs or illnesses in kind of a "woe is me" manner.  While not entirely a baseless interpretation, the next thing Jesus says is key to the interpretation.  To His first century audience, carrying a cross was not simply a difficult burden to be endured; it was ultimately death and involved shame, ridicule, and humiliation.  The meaning is that we are to love Jesus even more than our physical life itself and be willing to die to follow Him faithfully.

Jesus also asked His listeners what would it profit a person to gain the entire world but lose their soul? (Matthew 16:26, Mark 8:36, Luke 9:25)

Yes, Jesus is a treasure of great price worth all that and more.

In light of the gospel and Jesus' infinite worth, everything else pales in comparison.  All of those things we shed in order to gain life through Jesus become less valuable in comparison to our devotion to Him, but many are often still necessities for our life on earth.  

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

(Matthew 6:19-21)

Does that mean that it is wrong to store up treasures and necessities?  No; it means that it is wrong to give them top priority, or to give them equal priority with God, or to put our trust and faith in them rather than full reliance on and devotion to God.  Whether wealth or necessities here on earth, they are perishable but the goodness of God is imperishable and inexhaustible.

But do not fear or be anxious!  God's love doesn't abandon us in our needs.

"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

(Matthew 6:31-33)

Seek first the kingdom of God.  He'll take care of all the rest.  Just know that He may at times want your participation at some level.  Remember, He produced manna independent of any Israelite activity, but He didn't part the Jordan River until the priests obediently through faith carried the ark of the covenant and stepped into the water.

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For those interested in checking out Forbidden Island, Matt Leacock has subsequently released several other games in this cooperative series.

Forbidden Desert   [I have played and also recommend]

Forbidden Sky    

Forbidden Jungle