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Shortest Zelda Games – All Zelda Games Ordered By Lengths

This is truly the story of someone known as the "Hero of Time!"

Bianca Versoza

Published: May 19, 2023 12:21 am

It’s easy to assume that every The Legend of Zelda game is as long as Breath of the Wild when it isn’t. In fact, the others don’t even play like Breath of the Wild. Each game is a unique experience that aims to deliver one of three things—story, gameplay, and exploration—to the franchise. Thus, they all come in varying gameplay lengths, depending on their content.

Every Zelda game from shortest to longest

Before we start, we’d like to tell you that Zelda games are as long as you’re willing to play them. Some Zelda games are quite linear with limited areas to roam around it, while some have vast islands that take months to explore. There are also games like Hyrule Warriors that have little to no story content, but bundles of side stories that will take you weeks to go through.

All that said, here’s your list of every Zelda game from the ones you can put down the soonest to those you’ll be playing for months.

Related: Zelda Tier List – Best Legend of Zelda Games, Ranked

Mainline The Legend of Zelda games

The Legend of Zelda has an overarching plot that starts with Skyward Sword. If you’re only interested in the main games, these are the ones you have to play. While most of them are old, Nintendo is putting in a lot of effort to make them available for streaming on Nintendo Switch Online.

Game	Platform/s	Average Playtime	Completionist
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures	GameCube	3 hours
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords	GameCube	3 hours	15 hours
The Legend of Zelda	NES, Switch Online	9 hours	11+ hours
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link	NES, Switch Online	10 hours	12+ hours
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening	Gameboy, 3DS, Switch Online	14.5 hours	20 hours
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past	SNES, 3DS, Switch Online	15 hours	20 hours
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds	3DS	15 hours	25 hours
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap	Gameboy, Wii U, 3DS, Switch Online	15 hours	~30 hours
The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes	3DS	15 hours	55 hours

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons	Gameboy, Switch Online (soon)	16 hours	~24 hours
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages	Gameboy, Switch Online (soon)	16 hours	~24 hours
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass	DS, Wii U	16-20 hours	30 hours
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks	DS, Wii U	16-20 hours	30 hours
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask	N64, 3DS, Switch Online	23 hours	~35 hours
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time	N64, 3DS, Switch Online	28 hours	40+ hours
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker	GameCube, Wii U	30 hours	60+ hours
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess	GameCube, Wii, Wii U	38 hours	~60 hours
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword	Wii, Wii U, Switch	39 hours	60 hours
The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes	3DS	15 hours	55 hours
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	Switch	55 hours	200+ hours
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom	Switch	70-75 hours	200+ hours

Related: Longest Video Games of all time

Spin-off The Legend of Zelda games

Many of these Zelda games aren’t published by Nintendo and have a plot that isn’t considered canon to the franchise. Still, we’re including them in the list too. After all, we did mention we’re covering “every” Zelda game!

Game	Platform/s	Average Playtime	Completionist
Link's Crossbow Training	Wii	1.5 hours	6 hours
Tingle's Balloon Fight	DS	2 hours
Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon	CD-i	3 hours	5 hours
Link: The Faces of Evil	CD-i	3 hours	5 hours
Cadence of Hyrule	Switch	5 hours	10 hours
Zelda's Adventure	CD-i	6 hours	7.5 hours
Hyrule Warriors	Wii U, 3DS, Switch	12 hours (Main Story)	200+
Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love	DS	20 hours	23+ hours
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity	Switch	23 hours	70 hours
Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland	DS	30 hours	32 hours