Way of the Turtle Guide: Tips & Cheats To Start the Adventure

Mr. and Ms. Turtle have decided to getaway to a tropical island for their honeymoon. However, disaster befell them and now they are stuck on the island with no way home! It is up to you to help them escape in Way of the Turtle, a metroidvania platforming adventure that is suitable for players of all ages.

In Touch Tap Play’s Way of the Turtle tips and tricks guide, we will show you the basics of being a turtle and how to utilize the different shells. We will also give you some general adventuring tips, so let’s get started with our Way of the Turtle cheats, tips, and trick strategy guide to start the adventure!

Watch Out for the Signs

You may have noticed that there are wooden sign posts scattered around the island, and they each have a certain design on them. If you examine them carefully, they will give you a hint on what kind of shell power you will need to advance down that route.

For example, if you see a sign with a green exit sign marker on it, that means that you will probably need the Hawksbill shell for the extra forward momentum with the dash ability.

If you are planning on going down a certain route and you see a sign post, be sure to look at it closely so that you know what to expect.

(This Way of the Turtle guide was first published on Touch Tap Play)

Buy the Map as Soon as Possible

About an hour into the adventure when you are still wandering around as Mr. Turtle in Starfish Coast, you will come across a helpful gopher salesman. He is trying to pawn some goods off to you, and they are all helpful.

What you are really here for though is the map. The map costs 400 gold and when you buy it, you can use it to track your location at all times.

What is even better is that the map can be used to fast travel to major locations. Any locale on the map that has its own unique icon means that you can fast travel to it, so you can get around the world pretty fast.

Way of the Turtle is, at its core, a metroidvania, which means that you are going to be doing a lot of backtracking if you want to collect all the secret gophers and the like. Even if you are not planning on going for 100%, there is a lot of back-and-forth you will have to do.

Because of this, it is advisable to get the map as soon as possible. If you have collected all the coins up to the point where you meet the gopher salesman for the first time, you will have about 250-ish coins.

You only have to venture a little bit further to the next area to get the coins you need, and as soon as you do, head back to the seller and buy the map.

Look for the Rare Shards

When you are traveling throughout an area, be sure that you look through every nook and cranny. The game loves to hide coins and lots of other goodies in the levels, so only a intrepid explorer will find all of the secrets.

One item that the game likes to hide are rare shards. They are grey colored tokens with light blue runes on them. There are only a few of them in the whole island, but you can purchase precious health upgrades with them.

Each health upgrade costs 4 rare shards, and they will increase your maximum hearts by one. This can be really helpful for the more challenging sections of the game, so that you can make more mistakes without having to be booted back to the last checkpoint.

Grab all the Coins

Coins are scattered all over the island, and you need them to buy stuff from the gopher’s shop. Coins are somewhat finite, as the ones just floating around do not come back after you collect them, though you can still get them from taking out enemies.

Grab as many coins as you can. Not only will you fill up your pockets pretty fast, but this will also help you keep track of where you have and have not been.

Even with the map, the island is a huge, sprawling place so it is easy to get lost between the major locations. However, if you have collected most or all of the coins, you can use that as a way to tell if you have explored the area before.

Look for the Secret Gophers

Aside from the helpful gophers that guide you around the island, there are lots of lost young gophers wanting to come home. You can find them hidden around the levels, usually crying in despair.

More often than not, the gophers are blocked behind some kind of gate or contraption that you will need a specific shell ability to get past. If you want to hunt for gophers, it is best to wait until you have all three shells leveled up to level 2.

To help further, the gopher salesman sells a detecting item that will help you find the lost gophers. When you are near one, the detector will go off, alerting you to their presence. Be sure to grab this as well – it costs 600 coins.

Something really special awaits if you can find all gophers…

Get All Shell Upgrades

Each shell can be powered up to level 2, but you must find the appropriate shrine to do so, just like getting the original shells in the first place.

When a shell is powered up, you will gain new abilities. For example, when the Loggerhead shell reaches level 2, you can now slowly float by using the spinning attack in midair. It is helpful for crossing large gaps.

On your quest to collect all three magic flames, you will need the respective powers of each shell to reach the flames at all. If you are having trouble finding the shrines to upgrade your shells, make sure to visit areas you have not been to yet and talk to the various gophers. They will point you in the right direction.

Head to the Toxic Swamp for Wall Jumping

Once you reunite Mr. and Ms. Turtle together, you have the option to switch between them at any time. Neither of them having any innate differences – simply pick who you like the most. The other turtle will stay behind, and you can switch by returning to Gopher’s Paradise.

At this point in the game, the world opens up since you have all three shells, even though they are not powered. Your first order of business, however, should be getting to the Toxic Swamp.

The Toxic Swamp is located in the southeastern quadrant of the island. Here, you will find the Wall Jumping scroll. This scroll allows your turtle to – you guessed it – jump off of walls.

This technique is crucial to getting to the magic flames later in the game, so it is best to pick it up as early as you can.

Once you have it, you can now work towards powering up your shells and finding the magic flames to escape the island.

That is all for our guide on Way of the Turtle. If you have any other tips or tricks to share, let us know in the comments below!