The Hidden Secrets of Zelda: Uncovering the Mayachin Shrine's Inspiration

The release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom last month has caused a stir in the gaming world. With its intricate and user-friendly creation system, the game takes inspiration from its predecessor and grants players unparalleled freedom to tackle challenges in their own way. Among these challenges are the game's shrines, which are reminiscent of Breath of the Wild. While some of these shrines help players acclimate to the Ultrahand ability and unique combination systems, others test players in more traditional ways. One such shrine is the Mayachin Shrine, which pays homage to a popular game by incorporating Link's Ultrahand abilities into a classic skill-based challenge.

The Mayachin Shrine Challenges Link to Pinball

The Mayachin Shrine in Tears of the Kingdom is a unique addition to the shrines found in Hyrule Field. Unlike others, this shrine requires players to utilize both their cognitive abilities and reflexes to propel a ball off a ramp and into a target using Ultrahand. Dubbed "A Fixed Device," players must make a "flipper" similar to those in pinball using the materials available to them, such as sticks or a dropped weapon. Solving this satisfying puzzle involves timing the activation of the Zonai energy of the constructed "flipper" to hit the rolling ball and strike the target on the wall. Although it requires some practice, once the target is hit, the door to the shrine's exit will open. While players can tackle this challenge in different ways, most have found success by activating the "flipper" when the ball approaches the second-to-last white tile.

The Mayachin Shrine Includes a Hidden Tribute to Another Classic Game

After successfully hitting the first target in the Mayachin Shrine's core puzzle, players are presented with a new challenge on the right-side wall. This involves moving a swinging panel out of the way to allow a rolling ball to access the new target. Once this is achieved, players must use the previously constructed mechanism to create a "bat" that can hit the rolling ball as hard as possible towards the new target, transforming the pinball-like challenge into a baseball-inspired one.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now on Nintendo Switch.