Defeat the boss of Ancient Gardens to unlock its ten regular Challenges. Speak to the Challenge Rabbids on the return route. Reset Power Orbs for free before a movement puzzle or a one-turn damage objective; an ordinary story build may not have the required jump distance or Dash damage.
Choose a Challenge
- Swarmed! — Defeat 14 enemies, 3 turns
- Fight-Seeing — Escort Toad, 6 turns
- Quantum Leap — Reach the area, 1 turn
- All-in-One — Defeat all enemies, 1 turn
- Surrounded! — Defeat all enemies, 4 turns
- Ink Slingers — Defeat six enemies, 3 turns
- Once Bitten, Twice Shy — Defeat five enemies, 10 turns
- A Bridge Too Far? — Escort Toad, 8 turns
- Bounce Back! — Defeat all enemies, 3 turns
- Right Hero for the Job — Reach all three areas, 1 turn
1 — Swarmed!
Location: Second battlefield of 1-1. Objective: Defeat 14 enemies. Limit: 3 turns.
Use Mario, Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Luigi with improved Dash damage and extra Dash targets. Split their movement paths across the starting Ziggies. Dash several targets, then finish another with a weapon; Mario can add Stomp and hammer damage when available.
The later reinforcements count toward fourteen. End each turn with the weakest reachable enemies defeated so they cannot act. Keep Hero Sight for a useful moving target, and reserve the last turn for finishing rather than spreading damage across fresh Ziggies.
2 — Fight-Seeing
Location: Second battlefield of 1-2. Objective: Escort Toad. Limit: 6 turns.
Bring Luigi with Itchy Feet and a character able to heal Toad. Activate the movement buff with Toad in range before moving him. Clear the walking and pipe route in front of the escort, then end his movement behind cover.
Toad cannot Team Jump or serve as a jumping partner. Use the heroes to remove threats and occupy safe positions around the route. Leave enemies behind once they can no longer reach him, while checking new spawns near the next pipe exit.
3 — Quantum Leap
Location: Second battlefield of 1-3. Objective: Reach the area. Limit: 1 turn.
Use weapons without Honey, Burn or other disruptive Super Effects. The two Sherbet Smashers’ guaranteed knockback is the transport mechanism. Dash the nearer Smasher with Mario and place him on the line between the Smashers and the far goal.
Use the second hero farther along the path to shoot the left Smasher into the required alignment. Mario then shoots the Smasher he Dashed. Its retaliation Bounces him forward; after you end the hero turn, the other Smasher supplies the second Bounce into the goal. Mario does not fire twice. If the first landing misses the line of the second Smasher, restart and adjust the initial tile rather than attempting a second movement action.
4 — All-in-One
Location: First battlefield of 1-4. Objective: Defeat all enemies. Limit: 1 turn.
Upgrade multiple Dashes and Mario’s Stomp before starting. Rabbid Luigi can damage the Smasher and nearby Ziggies during one movement, while Mario adds movement damage and the hammer against the tougher target.
Assign the third hero the exposed Ziggy or remaining damaged enemy. Check the displayed damage before committing the last attack: all enemies must fall this turn. M-Power helps if already unlocked; a random weapon effect should not be required to compensate for an insufficient build.
5 — Surrounded!
Location: Beyond the second battlefield of 1-4. Objective: Defeat all enemies. Limit: 4 turns.
The Chain Chomps are hazards, not targets to defeat. Remove the Ziggies and leave a Smasher closer to each Chomp than your own heroes. Use Dashes to weaken it without triggering the weapon chase, then check the Chomp’s next target before ending the turn.
If a weapon hit is needed to reposition a Smasher, calculate its new distance to both the hero and the Chomp. Heal or protect the intended bait when a safe enemy target cannot be maintained. The Chomps’ attacks do much of the damage, but your final positions decide who receives it.
6 — Ink Slingers
Location: Upper part of the first 1-6 battlefield. Objective: Defeat six enemies. Limit: 3 turns.
There are more enemies than the defeat counter requires. Favor the four Smashers and two Ziggies rather than spending the short limit exhausting the stronger Pirabbid Plants. Use multiple Dashes and focused attacks to remove one target before moving to the next.
Enemy Super Effects are guaranteed. Super Barrier protects Rabbid Luigi while other heroes stay separated against area shots. Ink disables weapons, but movement attacks and available techniques remain useful. Keep a plan for a missed damage threshold instead of leaving several enemies alive with little HP.
7 — Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Location: Second battlefield of 1-6. Objective: Defeat five enemies. Limit: 10 turns.
The three Chain Chomps can damage the Pirabbid Plants more efficiently than early weapons. Place your heroes so a plant becomes each relevant Chomp’s nearest target. Remove cover or use controlled displacement when necessary, while keeping your own heroes out of the preferred target position.
Bring Rabbid Peach for recovery across the longer fight. Concentrate ordinary attacks on an already injured plant and repeat the Chomp setup as reinforcements appear. The challenge ends after five defeats, so do not prolong it to clear every surviving plant.
8 — A Bridge Too Far?
Location: Before the first 1-7 battlefield. Objective: Escort Toad. Limit: 8 turns.
Use Luigi’s Itchy Feet before Toad walks, then clear the next bridge section with the other heroes. Pipes shorten the route; a Team Jump does not, because Toad cannot use one.
Flank the Buckler and control a Smasher without pulling it onto the escort’s stopping tile. A Sentry can attack a remote threat while its user stays protected. Keep healing within reach of Toad, and ignore reinforcements that cannot threaten his remaining path.
9 — Bounce Back!
Location: Upper part of the first 1-8 battlefield. Objective: Defeat all enemies. Limit: 3 turns.
Four Sherbet Smashers threaten guaranteed knockback. Protect Rabbid Luigi with Super Barrier when you want him to survive a hit without being displaced, and keep unprotected heroes away from the arena edge.
Use Dashes, concentrated weapon damage and safe reaction shots to finish one Smasher at a time. Check every chase before adding another Hero Sight hit. Knockback is useful only when it sends an enemy out of the arena or preserves your formation; an uncontrolled hit on Luigi can spoil the whole turn.
10 — Right Hero for the Job
Location: Second battlefield of 1-8. Objective: Reach all three areas. Limit: 1 turn.
Bring Luigi with Double Jump and increased jump distance, Mario with Stomp and a third mobile hero. Activate Itchy Feet before anyone leaves its radius. Work from the farthest landing backward so each jumping partner remains available until the hero behind has used them.
Mario needs the lone Ziggy as a Stomp target to extend his landing range; do not kill it first. Put the first two heroes in their separate yellow areas while leaving the required jump connection, then use Mario’s Team Jump and Stomp to reach the remaining area. Check movement and landing upgrades before retrying a route that falls a tile short.
Continue exploring
Ancient Gardens story route · World chests · Walkthrough overview