http://www.robitstudios.com/treasure-adventure-game/
I downloaded this a few days ago, and it's a ton of fun. It's a 2D platformer where you get a boat and tour the world looking for treasures. Most of the game consists of solving platform puzzles on several unique islands to find maps or treasures. Much of the game resembles Zelda: The Windwaker in that you own a little boat and have to rely on your maps to help you locate the various hidden caves or dive spots where treasures can be found.
Difficulty is middling. There are a few tricky bosses, and you're likely to get stuck a few times and wind up circumnavigating the world trying to figure out where to go next. There are a few irritating parts where you will encounter a puzzle that looks solvable, but is impossible because you're missing a necessary item. The developer also has a bad habit of using bouncy mushrooms that spawn secretly after you complete certain objectives as gates, though these usually just work as shortcuts to help you return to completed areas. Expect to do a lot of backtracking while trying to solve the mysteries of each of your maps.
The game is very light on the story. After a short introductory sequence, you pretty much dive into the game without any further exposition. Expect to spend several hours at a time just collecting items and looking for your next reward. The wonder of the game instead comes from wondering what you'll find past the next hill, on top of that nearby mountain, or beneath some debris on the sea.
The highlight of the game is that you get to keep finding new treasures, which you must then use to find new treasures. Each time you get a new item several new avenues for exploration open, and each area is littered with hidden caverns or optional puzzles for life-ups or collectable clovers. There is a good degree of non-linearity where you can tackle different puzzles in whichever order you choose, while the key items tend to come with maps to show you where to find them. Almost all of the islands contain unique graphics and mechanics, so there's a lot of originality to be seen. You're constantly motivated to find that next item because you know it will allow you to reach a new and exciting place to explore.
If games about maps and collecting items to enable you access to new areas excite you like they excite me, this is a great deal for the price of free.
