Breath of the Wild is a massive open-world game filled with diverse terrains and countless secrets. But just how big is it? By real-world measurements, that is. It’s not an easy question to answer, but one gamer decided to take on the challenge.
To get accurate measurements, the gamer discovered a mini-game located at the Ridgeland Tower, where a man will reward you with rupees for gliding long distances without touching the ground. The distance traveled is measured in meters, providing a way to measure the Breath of the Wild map in real-world measurements.
The gamer’s first idea was to travel in each of the four cardinal directions to the edge of the world. But there were obstacles in the way, such as the mountain barrier to the south, the canyon to the north, and Zora’s Domain to the east. Going in a straight line would result in unreliable measurements.
However, the Breath of the Wild game measures the distance from the starting point to the endpoint, not the distance traveled. As long as the gamer ended up at a predetermined point, the game would provide the correct value, even if they went around obstacles.
To achieve this, the gamer used the Bow Lift Smuggling Slide (BLSS) glitch, which allows you to fly forward at high speeds without using stamina and remains at the same height. They marked the spots directly north, south, east, and west of the tower and used the glitch to reach each point.
The gamer found that the height of the map was 7897 meters, and the width was 8778 meters. Converting that to kilometers squared, the Breath of the Wild map is 69.3 kilometers squared or 26.757 miles squared.
For reference, Chicago is almost eight times larger, and New York City is almost 16 times larger.
So, next time you explore the vast world of Breath of the Wild, remember just how big it truly is, at least by real-world measurements.