Welcome, heroes of Koholint! Whether you’re playing the monochrome classic on the original Game Boy or revisiting the vibrant DX version on Game Boy Color, maximizing Link’s life energy is crucial for surviving the challenges of this mysterious dream island. The best way to do that? By tracking down every last Piece of Heart!
Scattered across the fields, caves, and waters of Koholint are fragments of power. Every time you collect four of these precious pieces, they’ll automatically form a brand new, permanent Heart Container, adding one full heart to Link’s health bar. Trust us, you’ll appreciate that extra resilience when facing down challenging dungeon bosses or navigating rooms filled with tough enemies!
In the original Link’s Awakening and its DX counterpart, there are a total of 12 Pieces of Heart hidden away. Finding them all will grant you 3 extra Heart Containers. Ready to start the hunt? Here’s your guide to the exact location of every single one:
Mabe Village – The Well
Requires: Sword
Location: West side of Mabe Village.
How-To: Find the well below a small cliff ledge. Use your Sword to cut down the bushes on the ledge directly above the well. Simply walk off the ledge into the well opening. The Heart Piece is waiting for you at the bottom.
Mabe Village – Fishing Pond
Requires: 10 Rupees
Location: Fishing Pond in the northwest corner of Mabe Village.
How-To: Pay the Fisherman 10 Rupees to play. Your goal is to catch one of the two larger fish in the pond (usually the bottom-most one). Successfully reeling in a big catch will earn you a Heart Piece from the Fisherman. (Unlike later versions, only one Heart Piece is available here).
Mysterious Forest – Skull Cave
Requires: Power Bracelet (from Bottle Grotto)
Location: Inside the cave near the center of the Mysterious Forest (the one you pass through to get the Sleepy Toadstool).
How-To: Return to this cave after getting the Power Bracelet. Inside, you’ll find a room with skulls blocking the path to a visible Heart Piece. Use your newfound strength to lift the skulls out of the way and grab it.
Koholint Prairie – Pit Square
Requires: Roc’s Feather (from Tail Cave)
Location: Just east of the eastern exit of the Mysterious Forest.
How-To: You can’t miss this one sitting in a grassy area completely surrounded by a square of bottomless pits. Use the Roc’s Feather to hop over one of the pits and claim your prize.
Ukuku Prairie – Bombable Cave
Requires: Bombs, Pegasus Boots (from Key Cavern)
Location: Ukuku Prairie, near the area with pits where Pincer enemies hide (south of Kanalet Castle entrance area).
How-To: Look for a cracked wall on the cliff face in the upper-left part of this screen. Bomb it open. Inside, you’ll find crystal-like obstacles. Use the Pegasus Boots (while holding your sword out with the other button) to dash through them. On the right (east) wall of this cave, look carefully for another section that looks like it can be bombed (it blends in well!). Bomb this second wall to reveal a small hidden chamber containing the Heart Piece.
Yarna Desert – Lanmola Cave
Requires: Bombs
Location: Cave system connected to the pit where you fight the Lanmola worm miniboss.
How-To: You can enter the cave one of two ways: either fall into the center of the quicksand pit where Lanmola emerges, or go one screen east of the pit and bomb a cracked wall on the northern cliff face there. Once inside the cave room directly under the pit, place a Bomb against the northern wall. It will blast open a hidden passage leading to the Heart Piece.
Cemetery – Grave Cave
Requires: Roc’s Feather (minimum), Bombs & Hookshot recommended later.
Location: The area in the graveyard with four tombstones arranged in a square.
How-To: Push the bottom-right gravestone UP. It will slide and reveal a hidden staircase. Go down. Inside, the Heart Piece is across a gap. It is possible (though tricky!) to get it early with a well-aimed diagonal jump using Roc’s Feather. If you struggle with the jump, you can come back much later with Bombs (to potentially blast a path, depending on entry) and the Hookshot (to cross the gap easily).
Animal Village – Northern Cave
Requires: Bombs, Hookshot (from Catfish’s Maw)
Location: North of Animal Village, past where the Walrus blocks the path initially.
How-To: Head north from the desert path entrance to Animal Village, hugging the left wall. You’ll find a cave entrance on the cliff face that needs to be bombed open. Inside is a multi-room cave puzzle requiring both Bombs (to destroy cracked blocks/walls) and the Hookshot (to cross gaps) to finally reach the Heart Piece.
Tal Tal Heights – Mountain Cave
Requires: Flippers (from Angler’s Tunnel)
Location: East of the entrance to Level 4, Angler’s Tunnel.
How-To: From the dungeon entrance on the mountain lake, swim east across the water. You’ll see a cave entrance you can swim into. The Heart Piece is simply sitting in the water inside this cave – no diving needed in this version!
Kanalet Castle – Moat
Requires: Flippers
Location: The moat surrounding Kanalet Castle.
How-To: Enter the moat water (using stairs near the NE phone booth is easiest). Swim to the southwest corner area of the moat (specifically, grid square G-5 if looking at the map). The Heart Piece is submerged here. Since there’s no diving, just swim over its location, and you should collect it automatically.
Tal Tal Mountain Range – Bridge Cave
Requires: Hookshot, Bombs
Location: Cave accessed after crossing the broken bridge on Tal Tal Mountain Range (where you initially find Marin stranded).
How-To: After getting the Hookshot, you can cross the gap where the bridge used to be. Continue east along the path until you see a single bush. Cut it to reveal stairs leading down into a cave. Inside this cave, bomb the south wall to open a passage. Go through and head right to find the Heart Piece.
Turtle Rock – Exterior Summit
Requires: Progress through Level 8, Turtle Rock.
Location: Outside area accessible from within the Turtle Rock dungeon.
How-To: Late in the Turtle Rock dungeon, you’ll find a staircase leading back outside onto the very top (the “summit”) of the mountain/turtle shell structure. The Heart Piece is waiting for you out here in the open air.
There you have it – all 12 Pieces of Heart from the original Game Boy classic! Finding them all will give you a total of 3 extra Heart Containers (12 pieces / 4 per container), bringing Link’s maximum health to a respectable level for tackling the later challenges and the final Nightmare. Good luck, and enjoy the monochrome adventure!