Ever since the original Super Mario Maker was announced, Zelda fans have dreamed of having the same formula applied to Hylian hijinks: setting up tricky puzzles, challenging encounters, and mysterious secrets all with a fun and friendly tile-based creation system. The new Chamber Dungeon feature coming to The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening remake for Switch doesn't offer quite the same level of tinkering delight, but it may be the first step toward Zelda Maker if fans really take to it.
Nintendo gave a detailed look at how Chamber Dungeons work in one of its Treehouse Live streams from E3 2019 (skip to 14:30 if you want to see the relevant section below). They take advantage of how all dungeon rooms in Link's Awakening are roughly the same size to let you rearrange them to complete certain challenges - you can plop down rooms from any dungeons you've completed in whatever configuration you like as long as the doorways match up.
"I know this game left a strong impression on many players, but honestly I don't know if everybody remembers exactly how to play everything," series producer Eiji Aonuma explained in the stream. "This is just like figuring out a puzzle. So if you go back to your memories of how you completed the dungeon and then play this dungeon as well, I think it will leave a very strong impression while you play. Also if you play this while you progress the main story, I think it will even leave a stronger impression."
In an interview with Kotaku (the same one where he revealed the Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel came to be because the team had too many DLC ideas), Aonuma teased that if Chamber Dungeons are popular, it could be a good sign for Zelda Maker's prospects.
"I can’t predict the future, but if people do love this idea of arranging dungeons, I’ll keep that in mind going forward," he said.
Read our Zelda: Link's Awakening E3 2019 preview for more details on the game, or watch our latest Release Radar video to see what's big in games and entertainment this week.
