Hey Zelda fans, have you ever wanted to sail the Great Sea from the comfort of your PC? To explore Wind Waker’s vast world in a web browser, no emulation required?

Well, if so, you’re in luck! A fan by the name of Robin Payot has now remade the sailing from that title as a browser game, and you can play it online right here.

Here’s the announcement he made it on Twitter:

My old #Threejs #Zelda project now runs on #WebGPU thanks to #TSL !⛵️🙌
Give it a try! 👉 https://t.co/j11AEFSUI3
(Safari will fallback to the old project) pic.twitter.com/mamZJWgEdQ

— Robin Payot (@RobinPayot) March 22, 2026

As well as a quick screenshot we took of the game itself in action:

Yeah, it’s mighty impressive for what it is. Indeed, while it’s only a port of the sailing mechanics rather than the game itself, and in some ways feels more like a tech demo than anything too substantial…

The fact this was coded in JavaScript and runs perfectly well in a web browser is still kinda insane to us. We still remember the days when you’d need something like VRML or Shockwave to get something like this working, and the majority of browser games were simple Flash or Java based affairs. Being able to explore the entirety of a GameCube game’s world in a browser and it not run like molasses feels almost like alien tech by comparison.

It also reminds us a lot of Noclip.website too. That one lets you explore video game maps in the browser, as a sort of camera tour mode…

But mechanically, it’s still a lot simpler than anything found here. This is basically a Wind Waker sailing physics port with actual gameplay to check out, not just a tech demo.

So, what is this gameplay anyway? What exactly did they recreate from the original game outside of the sailing physics?

Well, there’s a grappling hook to pull up treasures from the sea floor, and the ability to take a picture of your current location to share on social media for starters. That’s part of it.

But there are also some minor collectibles too. Rupees can be collected as in the original game. You can get things like Triforce Shards and the Master Sword to speed up your boat, or tweak other aspects of the experience.

There’s also an extra mini game mode where you collect coins in a linear course, sorta like one of the island challenges from the original game.

And that’s about it. It’s a sailing simulator first and foremost, and the other interactive elements are small extras on top of that.

Regardless, it works fine mechanically speaking. It’s a fun novelty for bored Zelda fans with a bit of time to kill.

But what will Nintendo make of it? Will they take it down, like people have speculated online?

Honestly, it’s hard to tell. The fact it’s getting picked up by media outlets probably isn’t a great sign here, especially if it starts going viral on social media on top of that…

Yet at the same time, it’s hardly a competitor to anything either. If you want to play Wind Waker, this isn’t it. It’s a quick tech demo to explore the world, like you might see on a demo disc or official website back in the day.

So, there’s always a chance Nintendo might ignore it. Or interest might die out before the lawyers get involved.

And even if there isn’t, it probably won’t stay down for very long. The whole thing runs in the browser alone, without a server-side element to its name. Hence anyone who wants to archive it can just reupload it to their hosting and everything will be fine. The chances of this experience getting lost forever are basically non-existent.

Regardless, that’s Robin Payot’s awesome Wind Waker sailing game, and how you can play it in your browser right now. It’s a fun distraction if you want to bring back memories of the classic GameCube title, and a surprisingly solid recreation of the Great Sea and its mechanics given the platform it’s running on.

Still, what are your thoughts? Have you tried the game yet? What are the chances Nintendo will go after it in future?

Tell us your opinion in the comments below, or on our Discord server today!

Source:

Wind Waker JS