Highlights

  • Pirate fans may be disappointed with Skull and Bones' lackluster treasure hunts and missing typical pirate adventure elements like traps and puzzles.
  • Ubisoft missed the opportunity to make treasure hunts in Skull and Bones more engaging by adding obstacles, puzzles, and foes to conquer.
  • While the concept of treasure hunting in Skull and Bones has potential, it falls short of the exciting and challenging experiences expected by pirate fans.

It is no secret that Skull and Bones has fallen a bit flat with audiences, with one of the primary reasons being that it has failed to deliver that pirate experience for many. Not only does the game lack features like hand-to-hand combat and shipboarding, but its side content like treasure hunts also misses the mark.

The idea of treasure hunts has been a core part of the pirate fantasy forever, thanks to stories like Treasure Island and Pirates of the Caribbean. While the historical accuracy of pirate treasure hunts is up for debate, pirate fans still crave adventures like that. Skull and Bones seems to understand this as Ubisoft has packed it full of treasure waiting to be discovered. However, the concept seems to be lacking a core aspect of these hunts.

Skull and Bones ship
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Skull and Bones Treasure Hunts Are Lacking That Special Feeling

Skull and Bones' Treasure Hunts Explained

As players explore the seas of Skull and Bones, they will come across various treasure maps that lead them to untold riches. These maps can be earned from contracts, found from looting ships, or are given to them as rewards for events. Once players find one, they must decipher its clue and track down the island it depicts in hopes that they can discover some treasure at the end.

Each map shows a crudely drawn island, a simple clue, and an X marking where the treasure can be found. When players get to the island, they walk up the road a bit to a patch of land, start digging, and pull up a treasure chest. Inside each chest, there tend to be resources, ship parts, and sometimes even a cosmetic or two. After that, the treasure hunt is over, and players can go onto their next Skull and Bones adventure.

Ubisoft Could Have Done So Much More With the Concept

While Skull and Bones' treasure hunts can be a decent way to earn some extra rewards, they could have been so much more. Tracking down an island with a mysterious treasure only for it to be buried less than a mile away from the dock brings that first, eager journey to an abrupt end. Additionally, players do not even need a shovel to dig up the treasures and there are hardly ever any hazards that must be avoided on their journey. Instead, it kind of feels like anyone could find these chests if they spent even a second looking for them and not something pirates hid to protect their own treasure.

For years, pirate fans were led to believe that hunting down treasure involved traps, puzzles, and multiple steps. Franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean did not have the pirates find the treasure off of one map; instead, they had to peruse multiple islands and conquer countless foes before they even came close to what they searched for. Stories like Treasure Island were the same way as the crew had to undergo numerous challenges along their journey. Yet, in Skull and Bones, there is hardly any sort of challenge or intrigue.

It may be too late for Ubisoft to liven up Skull and Bones' current treasure hunts. However, it could add some more interesting ones in the game's post-launch updates. Players should have to overcome many obstacles during their search, and once they discover the chest, they need to be rewarded with even nicer rewards. Adding puzzles and foes to conquer would not only make these side quests far more engaging, but they would also help inject some much-needed life into this pirate adventure.