Tears Of The Kingdom Will Not Get A Mario-Maker Style Spin-Off

If you have been waiting to test your creativity in a Zelda spin-off in the style of Mario Maker, I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news. In an interview with Polygon, series director Eiji Aonuma said that there are no intentions to make a Mario Maker-style Zelda. Aonuma-san adds that he believes that Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is a game that encourages players to be creative and that he doesn’t want to force players into that creativity. 

When we’re creating games like Tears of the Kingdom, I think it’s important that we don’t make creativity a requirement. Instead, we put things into the game that encourage people to be creative, and give them the opportunity to be creative, without forcing them to.”

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was touted for its freeform sandbox-style approach to gameplay that encouraged players to create some truly shocking contraptions. From entire functioning mechs to rocket powered jet cars, the sheer amount of creativity present within the toolkit in Tears of the Kingdom resulted in some of the wildest creations you could possibly imagine.

Contrary to this, Super Mario Maker relies on player creativity to thrive. Players create unique levels and set pieces that other players can play and then rate. Unlike Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Maker cannot truly thrive without its players’ endless creativity. Both games are aiming for a vastly different approach. Aonuma-san further clarifies his earlier statement saying that:

There are people who want the ability to create from scratch, but that’s not everyone. I think everyone delights in the discovery of finding your own way through a game, and that is something we tried to make sure was included in Tears of the Kingdom; there isn’t one right way to play. If you are a creative person, you have the ability to go down that path. But that’s not what you have to do; you’re also able to proceed to the game in many other different ways. And so, I don’t think that it would be a good fit for The Legend of Zelda to necessarily require people to build things from scratch and force them to be creative.”

Regardless, Zelda Tears of the Kingdom has proven to be an exceptional success for Nintendo. The game was not only in the running for the Game of The Year but also won “Best Action-Adventure Game” at this year’s TGA. On top of that, Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is among the highest-rated games of the year, sitting comfortably among other exceptional 2023 titles such as Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Walking Dead: Destinies.