Ocarina of Time Remake Keeps an Infinite Gold Skulltula Token Glitch Alive

One of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's strangest collectible exploits appears to have survived into its remake. Players have demonstrated a method for repeatedly collecting Gold Skulltula Tokens from one enemy in the Hyrule Castle area, effectively recreating a famous glitch from the original game. The technique is not quite as immediate as it was before, however: the Gold Skulltula does not simply return after leaving and re-entering its hiding place. It seems that players must first force the game to reset relevant loading zones.

That extra requirement makes the process slower and less convenient than the old version of the trick, but it still has an unusual practical use. Anyone who is short on Gold Skulltula Tokens late in their adventure can apparently farm the same target until reaching the game's limit. The total will not continue increasing forever on the counter, though. It caps at 101, preserving the oddity of having one more token than the 100 normally associated with the Gold Skulltula reward chain.

For a game built around exploration, dungeon-solving, and gradually uncovering Hyrule's secrets, Gold Skulltulas have always represented one of the more demanding long-term side objectives. They are scattered across the world, often appear only at night, and can be hidden in locations players may not revisit for a long time. Finding every one of them is a major undertaking without a guide. That makes any duplication method immediately interesting to completion-minded players, even if its real value is more about curiosity than efficiency.

A familiar grotto outside Hyrule Castle

The exploit centers on a grotto outside Hyrule Castle. Access to the area requires playing the Song of Storms on a plant, opening a route into the underground space. Inside is a Gold Skulltula concealed behind a breakable wall. Child Link can deal with the enemy from a distance using the Boomerang, then use that same item again to retrieve the token it drops.

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In the original version of Ocarina of Time, the key was timing the token pickup while leaving the room on its flower elevator. Link could throw the Boomerang so that it collected the token as he exited. The game would record the token as acquired, but on a return trip the Gold Skulltula could still be present. Players could then defeat it again, collect another token, and repeat the sequence.

It was a classic example of a collectible state failing to update quite the way players would expect. The enemy and its pickup were treated differently enough that the game could award the token while still allowing the Skulltula's encounter to return. Like many enduring Zelda glitches, it was specific, slightly awkward to perform, and memorable precisely because it turned a finite world collectible into something that could be gathered repeatedly.

Early attempts suggested the trick had changed

The remake's version of the glitch was first highlighted by a player using the name Wrong-Kangaroo-4352, who showed a Gold Skulltula total of 101. Initially, the details behind the result were unclear. Other players attempting the familiar original-game steps reported that the method did not behave as expected. After leaving the grotto and coming back, the Gold Skulltula was gone.

That behavior made it easy to assume the exploit had been removed or patched. In a remake, especially one that revisits a game as closely examined as Ocarina of Time, changes to old bugs are always possible. Developers may fix them intentionally, alter loading behavior as a side effect of other improvements, or leave portions of the old logic intact without preserving every step that once triggered an exploit.

The apparent dead end did not last. Another player, theletter454, tested the grotto method and initially reached the same conclusion: the Skulltula seemed not to respawn. But after finishing the game, they noticed their completion progress was still short by one percent. The Nintendo Switch Online app indicated that a Gold Skulltula Token in the Hyrule Castle region had not been collected. Returning to investigate revealed that the Skulltula was back.

That discovery clarified that the encounter was not permanently gone. It simply required more than a quick exit and re-entry before the game would restore it.

Resetting loading zones is the missing step

Community testing has pointed to loading-zone resets as the important difference in the remake. Players need to move the game into a state where the relevant area is fully refreshed before revisiting the grotto. One way to do that is to switch between adult Link and child Link. Travelling to an area with a different loading zone, such as Lake Hylia, can also accomplish the needed reset.

After taking one of those detours, the player can return to the Hyrule Castle grotto and find the Gold Skulltula available once more. From there, the process can be repeated: defeat it, collect the token during the exit setup, reset the relevant areas elsewhere, then come back again.

That means this is not a rapid one-room farming route. Each repeat involves travel and loading transitions, turning it into a deliberately roundabout workaround rather than a simple loop. Still, the central behavior remains remarkably close to the original glitch. A token can be counted as obtained while the game later restores the enemy that supplies it, creating another opportunity for a duplicate collectible.

Players considering the method should also remember that it does not replace every aspect of normal completion. Gold Skulltula Tokens are tied to milestone rewards, and those rewards are designed around the expected collection totals. Repeating one token can help fill the numerical count, but it does not reveal the world's many real Skulltula locations or provide the satisfaction of tracking down every hidden enemy across Hyrule's fields, caves, temples, and settlements.

Why 101 tokens is possible

The existence of a 101-token maximum has long made this glitch especially amusing. The intended challenge involves 100 Gold Skulltulas, with rewards granted at specific thresholds along the way. Yet the counter can accommodate one additional token when the duplication trick is used. It is not an endlessly escalating total, even though the exploit itself can be repeated.

That cap gives the bug a peculiar balance. It lets players create an impossible-looking collection number without completely breaking the game's tracking interface. The result is more of a trophy for experimentation than a way to generate infinite progression. A player can arrive at 101 Gold Skulltulas, but the counter will not climb to 102, 200, or beyond.

For fans who remember the original game's quirks, that limitation is part of the charm. Zelda games are often remembered not only for their intended secrets, but for unexpected interactions that became shared community knowledge: unusual item behavior, sequence breaks, odd enemy states, and tricks discovered through repeated experimentation. The Gold Skulltula exploit belongs comfortably in that tradition.

Some old bugs can be part of the experience

There is also a reason players are reluctant to assume every returning glitch is an accident. During work on the 2011 Nintendo 3DS remake, Nintendo developers, including Satoru Iwata, discussed the choice to retain certain bugs from the original game. Some members of the team regarded particular quirks as entertaining and as part of what players remembered about the experience.

That does not confirm that this specific Gold Skulltula behavior was deliberately retained. The altered reset requirement could just as easily be the result of changed loading logic, or a side effect of systems that otherwise closely match the original. But the fact that some legacy bugs were consciously viewed as worth preserving makes it plausible that not every strange interaction is treated as something that must be erased.

In this case, the exploit is also relatively harmless. It does not appear to corrupt progress, lock players out of content, or give access to unavailable story material. At most, it allows a player to substitute repeated work at one grotto for the hunt for a small number of missing Skulltulas. The extra travel required between attempts ensures that it remains more of a novelty than an overwhelming shortcut.

A neat discovery for completionists and glitch hunters

The recreated trick is unlikely to be the preferred route for most players. Exploring Hyrule for all 100 Gold Skulltulas remains the intended challenge, and it is still the best way to experience the game's optional spaces in full. But for anyone who has finished the story and finds themselves one token short, the glitch offers an unusual backup plan.

More importantly, it is another reminder of how deeply players continue to investigate Ocarina of Time. Even a game that has been studied for decades can produce fresh discussion when an old exploit appears in a new form. The remake may demand a loading-zone reset where the original only required an exit and return, but the underlying oddity is still recognizable: one Gold Skulltula, one Boomerang, and an improbable path to 101 tokens.