The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Four yes-or-no questions sort any Zelda dungeon into one of two types. Ask whether the dungeon branches, whether the player can choose the order, whether there is backtracking, and whether the player does that backtracking. Mostly yes makes a find-the-path dungeon; mostly no makes a follow-the-path one.

Fortress of Winds answers yes to all four, while Palace of Winds answers almost no to all of them. The Water Temple is find and the Shadow Temple is follow; nearly all Oracle dungeons are find and nearly all Wind Waker dungeons are follow.

Branching forces exploration and leaves routes the player must return to. Fortress of Winds forks early. The right-hand door leads to a mud room that can't be crossed until the player gets the Mole Mitts on the left, then works out where to use them.

A branch still counts if it is a dead end for now. Fortress also sends the player back to the central room for the boss door, while Palace of Winds almost never forks and lets the player take two keys in either order in only one section.

Leading the player straight to a key item's use removes the spatial challenge. In Palace of Winds the route back is locked after the Roc's Cape, and the only way forward drops the player at the gap it crosses. The dungeon has backtracking but the player never does it.

Mark Brown calls this "basically a level design cheat." Palace has no return trips and only short diversions, which makes it feel like it came from Wind Waker.

Find-the-path dungeons test the player's mental map of the layout. The player logs rooms, locked doors and barriers, then checks that map after each new key, item or change in the dungeon. Getting the Mole Mitts in Fortress of Winds sends the player back to dirt seen earlier.

Brown argues this tests "something that video games rarely test you on: your spatial awareness." Changes like flipping a dungeon upside down or altering the water level also send players back to the map.

Keep dungeons small enough to hold entirely in memory. Zelda dungeons are about the size where most players can keep the whole layout in their head at once, which the cognitive-map challenge depends on.

Oversized or cluttered dungeons break the mental model the challenge relies on.

Without waypoints, the level itself becomes the challenge. Zelda dungeons give no map marker or compass arrow, so a return trip the player chose feels more rewarding than one they were led on.

Brown says the best such dungeons would stay fun with every enemy removed. "Modern designers tend to see levels as places that hold the challenges. Zelda designers see the levels themselves as the challenge."

The Minish Cap's even split of the two types works. Deepwood Shrine, Fortress of Winds and Dark Hyrule Castle are find-the-path; Palace of Winds, Cave of Flames and Temple of Droplets are follow-the-path. Brown prefers this mix to an all-follow game.

Follow-the-path dungeons keep delivering new rooms and never leave the player lost, an appeal Brown admits he hasn't always answered well. He still rates find-the-path higher.

A one-way loop cuts the most boring backtracking. In Cave of Flames, after the player earns a key, a one-way door drops them near the start of the area instead of making them walk back.

The player keeps the real choice of where to go next and skips re-crossing old content.

Where a loop lands decides whether it guides or only orients. The Cane of Pacci loop in Cave of Flames lands exactly where the item is needed, Wind Waker style. The drop after the Mole Mitts in Fortress of Winds lands in a familiar room that isn't where the Mitts are used.

The Fortress drop helps the player reorient and work out the next step without being told it.

Bending a straight path back over itself disguises a linear dungeon. In Temple of Droplets, each switch needs a big loop away from and back to the same room, so players feel they are unlocking the dungeon while being led along one line.

"By bending a straight path back over itself, Capcom gets to hide the fact that this is, ultimately, a follow-the-path dungeon."

The shrinking gimmick drives dungeons and bosses, not just the overworld. Some dungeons are played entirely at Minish size, where normal enemies become huge. The Fortress of Winds boss has Link wreck a robot head, then shrink and blow it up from inside.

Link shrinks to pea size to enter tiny holes and clockwork soldiers.

Link-splitting builds up across the whole game. Splitting gives two Links in Fortress of Winds, three in Palace of Winds and four in Dark Hyrule Castle, each dungeon extending the same idea.

The mechanic came from Four Swords, also made by Capcom.

Each dungeon teaches its motif at once, then remixes it. Deepwood Shrine first teaches pulling mushrooms back to spring over gaps, then asks for pulling them back only part way, then the Gust Jar grabs mushrooms from afar.

Stacking each lock under its key shows a dungeon's structure at a glance. Forks show branching, tall lines show backtracking and shared horizontal lines show choice. Palace of Winds graphs tall and thin, Fortress of Winds short and fat.

A square lock opens with a diamond of the same colour and symbol, and only the fourth question, who backtracks, needs an added arrow. Brown redrew the graphs after patrons prompted it because the old diagrams no longer fit.

Too many optional items hidden in Mole Mitts dirt overloads memory. Fortress of Winds buries heart pieces, rupees and kinstone pieces in dirt, and players can't remember all the spots by the time they get the Mitts.

It undermines the cognitive map the dungeon depends on.

Ezlo's unrequested hints undercut puzzles. The talking hat offers tips without being asked, removing the moment of figuring things out. Brown calls him 'Captain Obvious'.

Brown notes help on request is fine; the problem is a companion who chimes in uninvited.