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  3. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom speedrunners are breaking open the game with nothing but an apple and a piece of wood

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By Hirun Cryer published 23 May 2023

That's one whacky physics system you've got there

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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
(Image credit: Nintendo)
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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom speedrunners are utilizing incredibly lowkey setups to speed through the new game.

It's not uncommon to see speedrunners setting themselves up with a host of real-world controllers and tech to hack their way through a game in record time. That's not really the case for the latest Zelda game though, where it turns out all you need for tearing through Hyrule is a plank of wood, an apple, and the Autobuild feature.

Content Creators: "Check out my 30 piece battle setup that requires 300 Zonaite and obliterates everything!"Speedrunners: "Check out my plank of wood and single apple that can cross Hyrule Field at the speed of sound."We are not the same#TOTK pic.twitter.com/Lg2E59f7UjMay 22, 2023

Yep, that's literally it. The speedrunning veteran on Twitter above explains that by cancelling the Autobuild, and then reactivating the main in-game menu as soon as the cancel occurs, you effectively cancel out the function inputs for an item taking place. In this case, that's a wooden plank with an apple Fused to it.

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Then you need to press against it, and the wooden plank will repeatedly attempt to bind itself back to you, which is what creates the energy here capable of moving the plank at a million miles an hour. It's mind-blowing to see Tears of the Kingdom's physics already broken open like this, considering it's barely been out for 10 days.

As we reported earlier this month when the new Zelda game first launched, the Tears of the Kingdom speedrunning record sits at 94 minutes. That could seriously change though if we see more hacks and glitches like this one above uncovered, and as with any player-generated creations in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, this speedrunning race should be truly glorious to witness unfold.

Check out our guide on how to get the Master Sword in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom to see how you can quickly get your hands on the Godly weapon.

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Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
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Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

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