Nintendo's Zelda Notes App Adds a Golden Skulltula Locator to Ocarina of Time
Nintendo's Zelda Notes companion app is available inside the free Nintendo Switch app, and it includes a locator for the 100 Golden Skulltulas hidden across Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The app does not require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, according to The Verge.
The core of the app is a map of Hyrule. When zoomed in, it displays icons for collectible locations, with Golden Skulltulas among them. Tapping an icon opens a popup listing the items or special requirements needed to obtain that collectible, so a player can see what a given spider demands before traveling to it. Two further controls shape the view. A toggle switches between the map for child Link and the map for adult Link, and a category filter lets the player show or hide each class of icon. Together these reduce the map to the part of the world a player is currently working through.
The companion app sits alongside tools already in the Ocarina of Time remake. The game includes an Echo Gem Skulltula tracking item that emits chimes to help locate Skulltulas. That is a proximity cue, delivered in-game and in real time. The app works differently. It is a lookup layer, indexed by location and requirement, and it does not react to the player's position. The two address different parts of the same problem: the chime says a Skulltula is nearby, while the map and popups say where it is and what it needs before the player arrives.
Collection also pays off in the game's systems. Collecting enough Pieces of Heart gives Link more health, so the hunt for hidden items carries a functional reward beyond the Skulltula count. A tracker that keeps all 100 visible across both the child and adult maps makes it easier to plan routes that serve more than one goal at once.
In my view, the decision to place the tool inside the free Switch app, with no subscription gate, matters for who will use it. A companion feature tied to a paid tier narrows its audience. One in a free storefront app reaches anyone who already owns the console, including players who would never think to look for a separate guide. The trade-off is that the map data and popups must be accurate for every collectible and every requirement. A player who trusts an incorrect popup loses time instead of gaining it.
The broader context here is how players now find information inside a game. For decades, the hunt for hidden items relied on printed strategy guides, fan wikis, and trial and error. Now the lookup can happen on a second screen or within the console's own interface, filtered to the player's current Link and chosen categories. Players aiming for the full 100 can do so with less backtracking and fewer detours through outside references. Anyone who has spent an evening searching for a single spider will recognize the practical gain.
What players do with the tool, and how completely the map covers the 100 Skulltulas in practice, will show up in the hands of the people who use it.
