How long is Tears of the Kingdom – length and time to beat

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here

How long is Tears of the Kingdom? We don’t blame you for wondering, because if it’s anything like Breath of the Wild, you could spend hundreds, if not thousands, of hours in Hyrule and still not discover everything. However, most players will be wondering how long to beat the main story, and what sort of length full completionists will be looking at.

Tears of the Kingdom shrines make a return, and dungeons are in the game after they were noticeably absent from the last instalment (no, the Divine Beasts weren’t dungeons), so completing these side activities will add to your playtime. Here are all the details on how long Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is, whether you’re going to blitz through the story or try and complete everything.

How long is Tears of the Kingdom: Link stood in a doorway looking up at a blood moon.

How long is the Tears of the Kingdom story?

The Tears of the Kingdom story will take approximately 50-70 hours to complete. This is how long it’ll take if you ignore most of the side quests, focusing only on the mandatory parts of the game, to ensure you’re fully geared up to tackle the final boss the game throws at you.

Tears of the Kingdom length for completionists

If you fancy 100% completing literally everything Tears of the Kingdom can throw at you, expect to spend much longer in the game. For context, Gene Park of The Washington Post explained he spent 60 hours in his playthrough, but by that time he’d not even found half of the 199 side quests available – and he’d completed less than a quarter of them.

Meanwhile, Ash Parrish from The Verge explained she’s spent over 100 hours in Hyrule and there are still parts she hasn’t even touched. So finding and completing everything the game has to offer will take upwards of 150 hours, if not more.

Now you know how long it’ll take to beat the game, get yourself clued in with everything there is to know about the Tears of the Kingdom map, which bears some resemblance to Breath of the Wild, but also has plenty of differences. You can also read more about all of Link’s new powers in our Tears of the Kingdom abilities guide, including Fuse and Ultrahand.

About the Author

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

  • Platform(s): Nintendo Switch
  • Genre(s): Action, Action Adventure, Adventure
10 VideoGamer