August 7, 2025

The Legend of Zelda: Explaining GIS with Video Games Pt. 2

Written by: Meg Scribner

On the GEOTalks Podcast, we’ve been talking about how core elements of Geographic Information Systems are demonstrated across pop culture. In particular, household games like The Legend of Zelda™ series by Nintendo feature mechanics that reflect functionality in real-world GIS software.

Let’s start with a broad definition. In short, GIS software like Global Mapper Pro® enables users to process and analyze geographic information and data visualizations. This can be as simple as adding point features (symbols) to a map, or more complex, like processing drone-collected point cloud data.

Geospatial Analysis in Zelda Games

As a host of the GIS podcast GEOTalks, and as someone who recently started gaming, I was shocked that Zelda games were packed with intuitive geospatial tools that enhanced my experience as a player. From Breath of the Wild to the new Tears of the Kingdom title in The Legend of Zelda series, players are performing spatial analysis more often than they might realize.

In The Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild, you wake up as Link — a sword-wielding hero — to learn that you’ve been asleep for 100 years. As Link, you’re fated to battle a great adversary to save the kingdom along with Princess Zelda, and you’ve been granted access to a Sheikah Slate to do so. This resourceful device enables you to map and traverse this unfamiliar version of Hyrule Kingdom to accomplish your objectives.

Link is traversing with a paraglider over Hyrule and monitoring his progress toward a point of interest. — 3D view (player’s POV) in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Map Features in Breath of the Wild

Map features help visualize geographic information in both The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Global Mapper. After you depart from the Great Plateau with your Sheikah Slate and a paraglider, you’re faced with the vast terrain of Hyrule and its menacing obstacles. In Breath of the Wild (BOTW), you can use the Sheikah Slate to add stamps, known in Global Mapper as point features, to the map.

Player adding a star point feature to the BOTW map, specifically a bridge. — In Breath of the Wild (BOTW), you can use the Sheikah Slate to add stamps, known in Global Mapper as point features, to the map.

I use both kinds of map features — stamps and waypoints — to inform how I navigate the map to accomplish my heroic feats. With point feature stamps in BOTW, there are a variety of symbols to choose from. I use these to mark locations I want to come back to later, and to provide some visual context about what’s waiting for me when I return.

Waypoints are displayed on your minimap and can serve as a beacon for your next destination. While you can set waypoint pins on the map, I recommend placing them from Link’s scoped view, then referencing the map to find out what points of interest are in that area. Waypoints allow players to perform terrain analysis on the fly (I mean that literally in some scenarios—read about aerial analysis in the sequel game below).

A placed waypoint in Link's scoped view in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. — While you can set waypoint pins on the map, I recommend placing them from Link’s scoped view, then referencing the map to find out what points of interest are in that area.

While you can place up to 100 stamps on your map, you can only set 5 waypoints. If I can leave you with one piece of advice for setting a waypoint on the BOTW map, it would be to ‘edit’ your pre-placed stamps instead of trying to place the waypoint near your existing point feature on the map.

Unlock the TOTK Map… with Aerial Analysis?

In the latest addition to the main line of Zelda games, The Legend of Zelda™: Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK), Link’s world is turned upside down. The terrain of Hyrule has been (literally) torn apart, splitting the map into three layers, including two new traversable areas: the ‘sky islands’ and the ‘depths.’

Link scanning the terrain/topography of Hyrule to obtain a portion of the TOTK map — Aerial analysis is necessary to explore new areas of Hyrule more efficiently (and yes, that is essentially how drone mapping with Global Mapper works in real life).

While I can’t confirm that Link’s method of collecting aerial imagery qualifies as remote sensing, he collects this data with his new high-tech device, the Purah Pad, and a trampoline capable of sending him into the stratosphere. When he scans the terrain, the Purah Pad boots up, and you unlock access to that area of the map. So, aerial analysis is necessary to explore new areas of Hyrule more efficiently (and yes, that is essentially how drone mapping with Global Mapper works in real life).

Explore Hyrule Kingdom in 2D

Players can use the revealed contours to determine the highest area they can get to from the sky, then reference their map to see if there are objectives or points of interest in their path. When I find the spot I want to target, I verify what I see on the map by toggling back to Link’s POV, then I paraglide to the nearest high ground using the new waypoint on my minimap.

Notice the 2D spatial information in the detailed map view of Hyrule’s surface. It includes contours, map labels, point features, coordinates, and more!

2D spatial information in the detailed TOTK map view of Hyrule’s surface. It includes contours, map labels, point features, coordinates, and more! — Notice the 2D spatial information in the detailed map view of Hyrule’s surface. It includes contours, map labels, point features, coordinates, and more!

Global Mapper users can leverage similar features to dive deeper into terrain analysis: generate an ortho image with Pixels to Points® to digitize building locations, and use the land cover classification tool to locate water features.

A map with custom vector labeling and styling; the contour lines are set at user-defined intervals to contextualize the terrain from a 2D perspective, just like in Zelda.

Spatial Analysis & Video Games

Check out this GEOTalks Podcast episode to watch these concepts in action. I play Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, as well as Fortnite, to demonstrate how accessible GIS concepts can be when they’re used in pop culture.

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