Finding Princess Zelda and saving Hyrule in the exact same way eventually loses its initial appeal. If you are looking for specific ways to make your next playthrough of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom feel fresh, players can adopt 12 distinct challenge rules ranging from strict equipment limits to alternative narrative paths.

1. Ditch Fast Travel

The rule: Get everywhere on foot, horseback, or basic vehicle. Warping is permanently banned for the entire run.

2. Play Without a Map

The rule: Keep the Pro HUD active and the map screen completely closed throughout the run. To increase the difficulty further, refuse to activate Skyview Towers so you play with zero map data.

3. Take the Hero of Time Challenge

The rule: Use strictly what the Hero of Time had access to in classic titles: a sword, shield, bow, bombs, and a horse. No modern additions beyond these specific items.

4. Stay at Base Stats

The rule: Hold Link at 3 to 4 hearts and skip every stamina upgrade for the entire game. Ignore every Light of Blessing you collect and lean into stealth, environmental kills, and Zonai tanks to survive without brute-forcing combat.

5. Ration Your Healing

The rule: Place a hard cap on how many dishes you can consume mid-fight, or implement a blanket ban on hearty recipes that instantly restore Link's health.

6. Commit to Permadeath

The rule: Die a single time, and the save file resets immediately with no exceptions.

7. Rush Mineru First

The rule: Unlock the sage Mineru as early as possible. Because the game does not intend for players to do this first, expect unusual dialogue pacing and cutscenes that assume you are much further along in the story.

8. Fight Only With Machines

The rule: Put away all swords and bows during enemy encounters. Every battle must be handled entirely by Zonai machines and contraptions built for automated combat.

9. Wipe Inventory Per Region

The rule: Every time you enter a new region or activate a new tower, drop everything—weapons, armor, food, and materials—and rebuild your inventory entirely from scratch.

10. Prioritize Zelda's Path

The rule: Chase every dragon tear memory in order before advancing any of Link's present-day main quests. For an authentic lore run, follow the sequence displayed in the back room of the Forgotten Temple.