Game Groups > Protagonist: Treasure hunter

This group includes games that feature protagonists who spend a significant portion of their lives treasure hunting, to the point that it can be considered a full-time occupation. Treasure hunters seek valuable historical or prehistorical artifacts without undertaking any kind of scientific research at the place of discovery, as practiced in modern archaeology. Some such characters can have an archaeological background, like Indiana Jones, since that is certified by an academic degree, but no modern self-respecting archaeologist would actually stoop to treasure hunting. Many early archaeologists, such as Heinrich Schliemann, are considered ordinary treasure hunters. Modern treasure hunters may employ costly state-of-the-art equipment, and use science to search for artifacts, but they have little interest in researching their historical meaning in the context of the site, culture or entire civilization.

Limitations

• Games where seeking treasure is a secondary occupation for the protagonist, for example as a part of a quest or wilderness exploration in medieval fantasy RPGs, should not be included in this group.
• Pirate protagonists should be included in their own separate group and are not part of this one, since their primary occupation is piracy.

Related sites

• Wikipedia: List of treasure hunters