Paper Mario: The Origami King - Hidden Toads Galore | Picnic Road Walkthrough

Welcome to Picnic Road! It’s just a pit-stop in our journey to the first streamer in Paper Mario: The Origami King, but it’s an important area to explore for one very good reason. You’ll find the next major quest to find all the shell stones, and you’ll be able to gain a bunch of Hidden Toads. The more Hidden Toads you have, the easier you can make future battles if you’re willing to spend a few coins.

Seriously, there are like dozens of Hidden Toads in this area. It’s a single-screen location, and there are some new enemies to look out for, but you won’t encounter confusing puzzles — most of this area is entirely optional. If you’re looking to continue the story ASAP, just go straight for the exit and check out our guide for the Overlook Mountain map linked below.

Paper Mario: The Origami King – Table Of Contents:

Green Streamer Region: Pt. 21: Visit All 5 Hot Springs | Shangri-Spa | Pt. 22: Cutting The Green Streamer | Bowser’s Castle

Peach’s Castle: Pt. 23: Defeat Ollie | Final Dungeon

Picnic Road Walkthrough

Leaving Toad Town through the back-right exit, following the red streamer, we’ll enter Picnic Road! This is a big area populated with Folded Goombas and lots of holes. Start filling them in with confetti — if you need more, just smoosh flowers with your hammer.

Hidden Toad: There’s a green hidden toad to the left of the entrance, right as you enter Picnic Road. Hammer his flatness to turn him back to normal.

Hidden Toad: An easy-to-miss hidden toad is on the left path. After following the road up, go left onto a raised ledge and look for a butterfly near the flowers. Hit that butterfly to find a secret toad!

Near the hidden toad, travel down to find a fenced area. Smash the fence near the Folded Shy Guy until it falls down — and you’ll encounter another enemy Shy Guy!

How To Beat Shy Guys: Line them up into 2×2 blocks and smash them with your Hammer!

This small fenced area is packed with Hidden Toads. Don’t miss them!

Hidden Toad: Defeating the Shy Guy behind the fence will reveal a hidden toad. He’ll hop away back to Toad Town.
Hidden Toad: There are three hidden toads behind the fence! Hit all three of them before leaving.
Hidden Toad: Hit the butterfly near the wrapped-up house.
Hidden Toad: Down the hill on the left side of Picnic Road, follow the stream’s edge from the house down — there’s a wrapped-up toad that’s easy-to-miss.

Hidden Toad: Hit the red mailbox outside the wrapped-up house with your hammer. There are three folded toads inside!
Hidden Toad: Smack the tree to the right of the wrapped-up house to knock down another folded-up toad. Hit him with your hammer to free him!
Hidden Toad: There’s yet another toad up the hill! To the right of the tree, there’s a small cliff with a bottomless hole. Fix it with confetti, then smack the red butterfly with your hammer when it flies low near the flowers.
Hidden Toad: At the steps where the Koopa Troopas are panicking, hit the yellow parasol to open it, then drop down from above to enter a small alcove with a folded up toad.

Continuing up the path, you’ll encounter some strange Koopa Troopas. They’ll run off due to a bad situation — follow them to the right! Talk to the panicky Koopa Troopas at the strange pavilion on the right side of Picnic Road.

Hidden Toad: Don’t miss this toad! He’s on the shop stand to the left of the pair of panicky Koopa Troopas. Hit this Toad with a hammer to unlock the accessories shop in Toad Town.
Hidden Toad: There are 12 hidden toads to the right of the Earth Vellumental door! Jump on the crates, cross the shop stands, and smash the cracked block to the right to make a 10,000-Fold Arms circle appear. Use it to smash the cracked statue and free a ton of toads.
Hidden Toad: In the Earth Vellumental temple exterior, use confetti to fix the holes opposite the shell door, then follow the path down. Smash the cracked statue, and follow the path behind it to a hidden alcove with a Scaredy Rat. Defeat it and squish the folded toad to save him.

Why are the Koopas panicking? Because a Folded Shy Guy is trying to steal the last remaining shell on the Earth Vellumental door! The Earth Vellumental is important to these koopas, so let’s defeat the Shy Guy and save the day.

Battle Tip: This is the first battle where you might fail. If you’re in a battle and don’t successfully line-up all the enemies, you won’t get a damage bonus. Use both of your attack actions to defeat as many enemies as possible — that means you might want to attack the same group of enemies twice! The fewer enemies there are, the easier it’ll be to beat the rest.

Quest: Find All Four Shells & Unlock The Earth Vellumental Door

IMPORTANT: You won’t be able to find these for awhile! You won’t be able to find these shell stones until the next area. For convenience, here’s all the locations.

Green Shell Stone: Sold by a vendor at Overlook Mountain for 10,000 coins.
Yellow Shell Stone: Go to the Save Block on Overlook Mountain, and defeat the hidden Goombas (use hammer on the grass patches) to generate a 1,000-Fold Arms. Use it to find this stone.
Blue Shell Stone: To the right of the Save Block, take the path down toward the water to find a small pier with a fishing rod. Use it to reel in the fat Cheep-Cheep in the middle of the water. Catching it leads to a fight. Defeat it to gain the Blue Shell Stone.
Red Shell Stone: In the Overlook Sports Park, knock down one of the three Giant Shy Guys to get the red shell stone ball.

Defeating that Shy Guy stopped him from stealing the last Shell key for the Vellumental Door, but there are still four shells left to collect.

Just keep this door in mind, and head for the exit of Picnic Road. Follow the path up to reach your next destination. There are more Hidden Toads we can grab along the way.

Hidden Toad: In the middle of the pond, there’s an origami goose. Use your hammer while standing on the brown block to reveal more hidden blocks — keep hitting them and you’ll get close enough to hit the goose too.
Hidden Toad: On the left side of Picnic Road, near the single tree, there’s a yellow flower disguised with the other flowers. Hit it to reveal a secret hidden toad.
Hidden Toad: Near the upper exit, there’s a golfing green. Pull this hidden toad out of the sand trap!
Hidden Toad: Before leaving, there’s one more hidden toad to grab in a tree to the right of the exit path. Above the golf course, there’s a ledge with this tree. Hit the tree with a hammer to reveal the toad.
Hidden Toad: The exit to the first area of Picnic Road is guarded by a hidden toad. That isn’t a dog! Hit it with your hammer to reveal his true form. He’s important too — this toad unlocks the Battle Lab in Toad Town.

Grab all these hidden toads on your way to the exit. At the top, you’ll enter your true next location. Overlook Mountain awaits! That’s where you’ll be able to unwrap the first of the five streamers.