History Main / MetalDetectorPuzzle

** Another ''{{Pokemon}}'' example: the Itemfinder (up to the GBA games) and the Radar Poketch application (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum).

* This is slightly easier than normal in ''IndianaJonesAndTheFateOfAtlantis''. The item you're using need only be pulled out once per screen to see in what direction you should head next. The problem is that it'll only point to your sidekick unless you can convince her to put her orichalchum necklace in a lead-lined box.

* In the first ''SimonTheSorcerer'' game, the player has to literally use a metal detector to find a mythical metal known as "milrith", said to be stronger than even mithril. This pretty much involves trying the detector on every screen until it picks up the ore.

An archetypal adventure game puzzle - an object is buried underground (or otherwise hidden) and the player needs to figure out where the item is buried, either by using another item to reveal its location (magnetic compasses, for instance) or by using knowledge of the contents of the treasure to one's advantage.

* ''VideoGame/{{La-Mulana}}'' has the Detector which beeps when you enter a room with a secret door.

* In ''[[GaiaOnline zOMG!]]'', one of the quests in Gold Beach is to find five mementos buried in the sand. Though your only clue is from the beeping sounds, so if your volume is turned down you'll have some trouble. Or you can find a player-made map that shows where the possible locations are and just check them all.
* ''WorldOfWarcraft'' added the Archaeology profession in its Cataclysm expansion. This involves visiting designated areas of the world map and using a skill that causes a theodolite to materialize on the ground next to your character showing the approximate angle and distance to buried artifact fragments in that area. Once you identify the location of the fragments, using the skill in that location digs them up. The fragments can be assembled into items of [[VendorTrash varying values]] and degrees of usefulness.
* VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}} has L-Rod exploration. They make more and louder beeps the closer one is to a hidden object, and when they reach four beeps can be used to uncover said object for some experience.

* In ''NoMoreHeroes'' you can buy an add-on for your beam katana that works as a metal detector to find hidden treasures throughout the city.

* In ''{{Spelunky}}'' you can find Udjat Eye which, if there's a secret exit to Black Market in the level, will beep faster as you get closer to the entrance.

* In TheImmortal one of the hardest rooms in the game is a maze with worms under the floor, and stepping on a worm kills you instantly. You must use a worm sensor to detect how far ahead of you the worm is, and all you get is a beep of varying volume as an indicator, making navigation really hard since there's ''always'' a worm within a few steps. Managing to navigate the room without ever using the sensor will open up an easter egg, which [[EverythingTryingToKillYou can kill you.]]

* The second episode of the ''TalesOfMonkeyIsland'' series has a puzzle that requires the player to hide a voodoo-charmed pyrite parrot in a treasure chest, so the player can eventually find the buried treasure based on the parrot's sound cues.

* A lategame quest in ''VideoGame/TheOldRepublic'' is the search for HK parts. This is done with a small deployable scanner which emits several concentric rings of increasing diameter. If the part is located within a ring's radius, you're told the (approximate) distance to the part. But nothing else. Bit of a pain, really.

* A number of {{Mons}} games, like ''{{Spectrobes}}'', have you adding to your collection by searching for and reviving fossils. In fact, this is practically a requirement when the Mons are dinosaurs (like in ''VideoGame/DinosaurKing'' and ''FossilFighters'').

* ''GrimFandango'':

* The very first spell you learn in ''MagiciansQuestMysteriousTimes'' is a "treasure hunt" spell which reveals things buried underground.

* ''BreathOfFireIV'' had an early mini-game like this where you had to find buried parts to repair your sand-ship with. The mini-game could later be revisited to dig up various materials with which you could craft special pieces of armor for Ershin.

* In ''SuikodenIV'', recruiting AdventurerArchaeologist Rene enables you to go treasure hunting with her dowsing rods. This relies on following a TreasureMap and running around; the dowsing rods cross to make an 'X' when she's standing right over the treasure. She also appears as one of the returning recruits in ''SuikodenTactics''; now, she can do her treasure hunting while the rest of your team is busy fighting!

* There are two such things to be found in ''NetHack'':

* A number of {{Mons}} games, like ''{{Spectrobes}}'', have you adding to your collection by searching for and reviving fossils. In fact, this is practically a requirement when the Mons are dinosaurs (like in ''DinosaurKing'' and ''FossilFighters'').

* Averted in the first ''PhoenixWright: AceAttorney'' game; in the case where it appears, the metal detector automatically goes off when you get to a certain location (assuming, of course, you have it in your possession). Played straight in the second and third games.

* ''[[ChzoMythos 5 Days A Stranger]]'' requires you to track down a hidden body with a makeshift dowsing rod of sorts - specifically, a teddy bear suspended from a stick - which you'll have to wave around the house. It's fairly easy to miss a step in the enchanting process, which means it won't do anything but won't say clearly that you have to do anything else. At least one Let's Player spent a full video clicking the rod on ''every object in the house'' before he figured out the last step that had to be done.

* ResourceGathering in ''MassEffect2'' is a planetary-scale version of this.

* In TheImmortal one of the hardest rooms in the game is a maze with worms under the floor, and stepping on a worm kills you instantly. You must use a worm sensor to detect how far ahead of you the worm is. Managing to navigate the room without ever using the sensor will open up an easter egg, which [[EverythingTryingToKillYou can kill you.]]

* ''FinalFantasyVII'' has a sequence near the end of the first disc where the player has to find an item (the Earth Harp) buried underground by hiring sentries, placing them around the area and then having them turn to face the general direction of the buried treasure. This minigame can also yield other rewards, including a card key that lets you re-enter the Midgar slums.

* ''FinalFantasyX2'' has this as well, in the form of the digging/"archaeology" game (made more urgent by sandstorms and a boss monster that would eventually show up, with no hope of defeating it at lower levels).

* Slightly difficult ''FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', since you'll only be told there's something under you if you're standing exactly on top of it at the end of a move. You have only a few chances to dig, and will be told the approximate "size" (i.e. value) of whatever you're standing over before you do any digging. Choose well!

** Rubacava itself has an oddly inverted example of this, where you need to use your scythe to find a handheld metal detector in a giant pool of kitty litter.

** It requires the player to find Salvador Limones' buried body in a field of flowers near its endgame by using a Number 9 Ticket which is magnetically drawn to him.
** ''GrimFandango'' also has one earlier in Rubacava, where you have to find a metal detector in a giant pool of kitty litter.
** Much earlier you need to use a sign to find the exit from a forest.

* ''MetalGear Ac!d 2'' has a similar mission involving dowsing.

* ''{{La-Mulana}}'' has the Detector which beeps when you enter a room with a secret door.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' game you have to assemble a "dragon detector", which turns out to be a precious metal detector that you can use to find the dragon's hoard.

* ''GrimFandango'' requires the player to find Salvador Limones' buried body in a field of flowers near its endgame by using a Number 9 Ticket which is magnetically drawn to him.
** Before that, there is the bonegrinder puzzle.

* In ''NoMoreHeroes'' you can buy an add-on for your beam katana that works as a metal detector to find hidden treasures throughout the city.

* ''MetalGear Ac!d 2'' has a similar mission involving dowsing.

* The fossil hunting mini-game in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pokémon Diamond, Pearl]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Platinum]]''.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', one of the keys in [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Snowpeak Ruins]] is buried in the snow and it simply cannot be dug up until Link finds the Compass.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', if you take Bow-wow with you around the island, he'll start barking to tell you which areas have buried seashells.
* A number of {{Mons}} games, like ''{{Spectrobes}}'', have you adding to your collection by searching for and reviving fossils. In fact, this is practically a requirement when the Mons are dinosaurs (like in ''DinosaurKing'' and ''FossilFighters'').
* The very first spell you learn in ''MagiciansQuestMysteriousTimes'' is a "treasure hunt" spell which reveals things buried underground.
* Averted in the first ''PhoenixWright: AceAttorney'' game; in the case where it appears, the metal detector automatically goes off when you get to a certain location (assuming, of course, you have it in your possession). Played straight in the second and third games.
* ''{{La-Mulana}}'' has the Detector which beeps when you enter a room with a secret door.
* This is slightly easier than normal in ''IndianaJonesAndTheFateOfAtlantis''. The item you're using need only be pulled out once per screen to see in what direction you should head next. The problem is that it'll only point to your sidekick unless you can convince her to put her orichalchum necklace in a lead-lined box.
* ...And slightly harder in ''FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', since you'll only be told there's something under you if you're standing exactly on top of it at the end of a move. You have only a few chances to dig, and will be told the approximate "size" (i.e. value) of whatever you're standing over before you do any digging. Choose well!
* In ''[[GaiaOnline zOMG!]]'', one of the quests in Gold Beach is to find five mementos buried in the sand. Though your only clue is from the beeping sounds, so if your volume is turned down you'll have some trouble. Or you can find a player-made map that shows where the possible locations are and just check them all.
* ResourceGathering in ''MassEffect2'' is a planetary-scale version of this.
* The episodes of ''VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAtractivePeople'' have a bonus puzzle where you try to find metal items by walking around with The Taranchula (sic) Black Metal Detector And Shovel Attachment! and listening for its call, in hopes of a CosmeticAward. In ''Strong Badia The Free'', you're required to use the metal detector in order to find some of a set of artifacts needed to convince Homsar to ally with Strong Bad.

* In ''SuikodenIV'', recruiting AdventurerArchaeologist Rene enables you to go treasure hunting with her dowsing rods. This relies on following a TreasureMap and running around; the dowsing rods cross to make an 'X' when she's standing right over the treasure.
** She also appears as one of the returning recruits in ''SuikodenTactics''; now, she can do her treasure hunting while the rest of your team is busy fighting!
* In the first ''SimonTheSorcerer'' game, the player has to literally use a metal detector to find a mythical metal known as "milrith", said to be stronger than even mithril. This pretty much involves trying the detector on every screen until it picks up the ore.
* In the first ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002 Ratchet & Clank]]'', there's a Metal Detector Gadget which you can use to find a few extra Bolts. It's not required to beat the game, and you can't find anything but Bolts with it.
* ''[[ChzoMythos 5 Days A Stranger]]'' requires you to track down a hidden body with a makeshift dowsing rod of sorts - specifically, a teddy bear suspended from a stick - which you'll have to wave around the house. It's fairly easy to miss a step in the enchanting process, which means it won't do anything but won't say clearly that you have to do anything else. At least one Let's Player spent a full video clicking the rod on ''every object in the house'' before he figured out the last step that had to be done.
* ''WorldOfWarcraft'' added the Archaeology profession in its Cataclysm expansion. This involves visiting designated areas of the world map and using a skill that causes a theodolite to materialize on the ground next to your character showing the approximate angle and distance to buried artifact fragments in that area. Once you identify the location of the fragments, using the skill in that location digs them up. The fragments can be assembled into items of [[VendorTrash varying values]] and degrees of usefulness.

* ''TheDig'' has one particularly infamous example: To find out where a local [[CallASmeerpARabbit rat]] has taken a useful-looking trinket, you have to bait and catch the critter, bind an alien bracelet around it, let it loose, and use a compass that always points to the bracelet's location to find the creature's hidey-hole and dig out the trinket.