Empowering the self: Flow state in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom

Flow theory has been applied to wide-ranging disciplines including sports, music, creativity and board game play. Within ludology, it has been applied to players’ experiences while gaming, but not yet to characters’ affective experiences of flow; likewise, how a portrayal of a character’s flow state might impact players has not been examined. This essay explores the 2017 Nintendo title The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ( BotW ) and its 2023 sequel The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom ( TotK ), whose protagonist Link utilizes an augmented version of the flow state. Giving Link access to flow state creates a point of connection between player and game; doing so ultimately promotes Nintendo’s mission to strengthen the player’s sense of identification with Link.