Link’s Awakening Switch: Heart Piece Locations

Like most games in The Legend of Zelda series, Link’s Awakening includes dozens of Heart Pieces scattered around the map for Link to find, on top of the bigger Heart Containers the Nightmare bosses each drop. Gather four Heart Pieces, and you get a new Heart Container for your troubles.

Link’s Awakening isn’t the most difficult game around, but having an eight-heart safety net is never a bad thing, plus it makes exploring every inch of Koholint Island worthwhile.

Some Heart Pieces are out in the open, waiting to be found after you get the right tools, while finding others takes you off — or under — the beaten path. There are 32 Heart Pieces to find in all, and here’s where to get them.

Mabe Village Heart Pieces

• On the western side of the village, jump off the ledge into the well. Open the chest to find the heart piece.
• Purchase for 200 Rupees in the village shop. Note you can technically steal it by picking it up and going in circles around the shopkeeper until he’s dizzy. Save the game before you decide to steal it, though; you’re in for a surprise the next time you enter the shop.
• Win at the Trendy Game store.

• Later in the game, if you’ve won several prizes at the Trendy Game store, another Heart Piece will be up for grabs.
• Catch a small fish in the fishing game (the hut north of Madame Meowmeow’s house).
• Catch a medium fish in the fishing game.

Mysterious Woods/Tabahl Wastelands/Cemetery Heart Pieces

• Enter the log in the eastern part of the Mysterious Woods, push the stones aside, and use the Power Bracelet to lift the skulls.
• After acquiring the Hookshot, enter the log surrounded by three rocks, and use the Hookshot to navigate your way to the chest; inside is a Heart Piece

• Directly east of the Woods and north of the Witch’s Hut, use Roc’s Feather to jump onto a small strip of land, where a Heart Piece rests in some grass.
• In the bottom-left part of the Cemetery, push the bottom-right gravestone to reveal a staircase. Go into the cave, bomb the cracked rock, and use the Hookshot to get to the treasure chest. You’ll find a Heart Piece inside.
• North of the Cemetery, and directly south of Dampe’s house, use Roc’s Feather to jump over the row of holes and nab the Heart Piece waiting there.

Dampe’s Heart Pieces

Two Heart Pieces come from Dampe. He gives you the first after you clear his fourth challenge, “Fill Up Your Hearts”, and the second once you’ve completed several challenges. You won’t be able to start experimenting with the Chamber Dungeons until after you complete Bottle Grotto, though.

Ukuku Prairie and Martha’s Bay Heart Pieces

• Right outside Mabe Village’s eastern exit is a crumbly cliff wall. Bomb it, and go inside to obtain a Heart Piece.
• Right above where Tarin tries to outwit the bees (near the Ukuku Prairie warp point) is another cracked wall. Bomb it, use the Pegasus Boots to make your way further in, bomb the cracked wall, and there’s your Heart Piece.
• Once you’ve obtained five Secret Seashells, present them in the Secret Seashell hut near Kanalet Castle.
• Make your way to the field behind Richard’s villa, and work your way to the upper right portion of it. There’s a Heart Piece lurking behind some holes.
• After you obtain the Flippers (which is after you complete Angler’s Tunnel, the fourth dungeon), swim in the Kanalet Castle moat, and approach the bridge from the left. You’ll spot a Heart Piece under the water, which you can get by diving.
• South of the Secret Seashell hut is a stairway that lets you cross under the river to get to Animal Village. With Flippers in hand (or on foot), dive in the deep water in the passageway, and you’ll find another Heart Piece.

• Swim to the south side of Martha’s Bay, south of the Catfish’s Maw dungeon, until you’re near the spot where the Mermaid Statue sits. In the little stretch of water south of the statue sits a Heart Piece. Dive for it, and it’s yours.
• The patch of bushes south of the previous Heart Piece holds another one. Exit the bay, and go counterclockwise around it, past the phone hut, and use the Pegasus Boots and Roc’s Feather combo to leap over the holes. Head downstairs, and dive in the deep water to find the Heart Piece.

Animal Village and Yarna Desert Heart Pieces

There aren’t as many Heart Pieces to find here.

• Go to the northeast part of Animal Village, and find the path that takes you around the back of the village. At the end is a Heart Piece, the one you can see from outside the village.
• There’s a cave near the path as well. Go inside, bomb the cracked rock, and use the Hookshot to cross the gap and obtain the Heart Piece.
• In the far eastern part of Yarna Desert is an Owl Statue, and near the statue is a cave. You’ll pass through a couple of rooms until you see a cracked wall. Use a bomb, then go in the newly revealed room to find your Heart Piece.

Tal Tal Heights Heart Pieces

• East of Angler’s Tunnel is a cave in the water. Hop in (after obtaining the Flippers, of course), go in the cave, and dive for the Heart Piece.
• From the Cucco House in Tal Tal Heights, head west along the path. Use your Hookshot to cross over the bridge, and slash the bush to reveal a staircase. Go inside and grab the Heart Piece.
• Head down the path outside the staircase you just exited, and remove the rocks in front of another cave entrance. Bomb the southern wall that looks like it’d be a doorway, then make your way through another room with four enemies. You can just ignore these and exit the room to the right. A Heart Piece awaits you there.

• Follow this same cave system to the west, until it spits you out in western Tal Tal Heights. Work your way along the path above Goponga Swamp until you reach the Heart Piece there on the ledge.
• This next one is actually connected to the eighth dungeon, Turtle Rock. In the dungeon’s upper left area is a room with two enemies and a staircase. Take the staircase up into the overworld, and a Heart Piece is on a platform above you.

Rafting Game Heart Pieces

The rafting game is in the Tal Tal Heights region as well, east of Angler’s Tunnel.

• Using your Hookshot, work your way to the left in the rafting mini-game. Maneuver yourself into the current that takes you south around the island with the Heart Piece, and then, using the Hookshot again, pull yourself to said island.
• South of the rafting game is a cave nestled in the cliff face. Enter the cave, and use your Hookshot to cross over both gaps and reach the Heart Piece.
• Break the record in the raft race, and you get a Heart Piece.

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Finding all the Heart Pieces might not be completely necessary for beating the game, but it is a good excuse to explore every nook and cranny on the island.

While you’re off exploring, check out our other Link’s Awakening Switch guides for more tips and secrets.