Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Tips & Tricks

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is out now on Nintendo Switch, finally bringing one of the best puzzling Wii U titles to the handheld console. The game is almost fully the same and includes the pixel Toad hide-and-see add-on content, but also throws in a handful of Super Mario Odyssey-themed levels to replace the old Super Mario 3D World levels. It's the perfect Switch game, but despite its gentle and easygoing appearance, it can get tricky!

Here are some simple tips and tricks to help you finish more levels of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker with all the gems, coins, 1-Ups, and Super Mushrooms available:

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Move that camera!

The first thing you should do in any level you enter is move your camera around. All around! Check the stage out from all angles, including above and below, to see if you can see any hidden passages. You should do this multiple times throughout the level--essentially any time you are standing in a new space or have activated a new switch.

Captain Toad's levels are full of secret passageways that are only visible if you're looking at the diorama-like stages from the correct angle. In order to find all the gems, coins, and mushrooms you can, you'll have to constantly be reassessing the area around you. Even if you think you've seen a wall from every possible angle, it's possible that moving to a new spot may offer a different perspective.

You can beat enemies!

With no attacks, it seems like Captain Toad can't fight his foes. That's not true, he just has to be careful about it. Most enemies can be defeated by throwing turnips at them, and levels will often provide you with some if enemies are about. Others, such as Charging Chucks, can be defeated with some ingenuity, such as baiting them to charge off cliffs. Boos can be defeated by shining your headlamp at them for long enough. At first, they'll just freeze, but they'll eventually perish to its light. Finally, some enemies can be defeated if you drop on their heads from a high level. That's not normally possible, but it's a quick way to banish them for good!

Repeat levels

On some of the earlier levels, it's simple to collect all three gems and complete the bonus objective in one run. But since you don't get to see the bonus objectives until you've finished the stage once, and since some of them can be a bit obtuse, you'll likely have to tackle stages multiple times before you can get a red stamp of completion.

And that's okay! Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a gentle game that doesn't demand you be perfect or even especially skilled. It's about the joy of discovery, at your own pace. That's why if you're dying often on a puzzle, the game will eventually just let you skip it and move on. There's no shame in it at all.

Experiment

One of the keys to success in Captain Toad is experimentation. Trouble finding a gem? Try killing as many enemies as you can, or try luring them into blocks you can't reach, Found a pickaxe? Make sure you've identified any possibly breakable blocks before you pick it up. Can you see something, but are unsure how to get to it? Pull some switches, change your camera view, and see what you can find! Captain Toad's levels are rarely repeats of one another, which means learning one trick in one level won't usually work for another. You'll have to experiment with the different mechanisms in each level until you find the secret to gathering all of the game's hidden collectibles.

Visit the Toads

If you're struggling to find gems in levels, one thing you can do is look to see if there are any Toads hiding or lounging in the level. Toads will almost always offer you a gem for walking near them, so be sure to pay them a visit. If you can see them, they're probably accessible!

Throw turnips!

Are there turnips? There's a reason for it. They may just be there to take out enemies, but try throwing them at blocks or other obstacles to clear them. You can also chuck them at distant coins or gems to grab hard-to-reach items without walking up to them.

Use Toad's headlamp

The headlamp on Captain Toad's head isn't just for decoration. Most maps have tons of hidden coins that will only appear if Toad's lamp shines on them, and then you walk through them. Make sure you shine his lamp anywhere you can walk to be certain you haven't missed any.

The cursor is obnoxious!

If you're playing on TV mode, you may be irritated by the constant presence of a blue, on-screen cursor that's motion controlled and intended to replace the touch screen elements. Unfortunately, you can't toggle the dang thing off. If it's irritating you, the only recourse you have is to play in handheld mode with normal touch controls. It's an unfortunately trade-off for seeing Captain Toad's really, really detailed bandana on the TV.

Any questions?

Still struggling to find all the gems in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on Nintendo Switch? Let me know in the comments!