Mini-Games and Secrets

Ocarina of Time has a set of mini-games spread across the map. Most cost a few Rupees to play, and each one gives a prize that is a Piece of Heart, an item or a bag, quiver or scale upgrade. The sections below list each game with where it is, what it costs, how to win and what it pays out. The final section covers grottoes and other secrets that are not tied to a single game.

Quick reference

Mini-games for child Link

Bombchu Bowling

The Bombchu Bowling Alley is in the west of the Hyrule Castle Town Market, and it opens once you have beaten King Dodongo. You pay 30 Rupees for 10 Bombchus. Steer each Bombchu down the alley and into a hole at the far end, past obstacles such as Cuccos and a blade trap. You have to score three times, and each hole is farther back than the last. The prize is on display before you pay: a Purple Rupee (50 Rupees), a Piece of Heart, 10 Bombs, 10 Bombchus or the Big Bomb Bag. The bag and the Piece of Heart can each be won once. After that, the alley pays out only Rupees and ammo. See the Kakariko Village and Hyrule Market chapter.

Shooting Gallery in Hyrule Market

The Market gallery is for child Link, with the Slingshot. It costs 20 Rupees. You have 15 Deku Seeds, and you must hit all ten Rupee-shaped targets, some of which move. The targets always appear in the same order for a child. If you hit at least eight, you get a free retry. The first time you hit every target you win a bigger Deku Seed Bag, and later wins pay 50 Rupees. The other Deku Seed Bag upgrade is the Lost Woods target. See Equipment and Capacity Upgrades.

Treasure Chest Game

The Treasure Chest Game runs in the Market only at night, and only child Link can play it. You pay 10 Rupees. The first five rooms each have two chests. One holds a Rupee prize (Green, Green, Blue, Blue and Red Rupees in order), and the other holds a key to the next room. Open the Rupee chest and you leave with that prize. The sixth room has a single chest that holds a Piece of Heart the first time and a Purple Rupee afterwards. Wearing the Lens of Truth lets you see which chest holds the key.

Richard the Dog

After dark, a white dog roams the Market. Pick it up and carry it into the Back Alley, to the house on the left that is open at night. Its owner gives you a Piece of Heart. The dog is named Richard. See the Heart Piece Locations guide.

Target Practice in the Lost Woods

In the Lost Woods, take the right-hand path from the entrance to a tree with a hanging target and a Deku Scrub. With the Slingshot, hit the bullseye three times in a row. You win a bigger Deku Seed Bag.

Skull Kid and the Song Game

The Lost Woods has two musical Piece of Heart games. Take the first path to the left from the entrance, find the Skull Kid on the stump and play Saria’s Song for him. He is so happy that he gives you a Piece of Heart. Then take the right-hand path from the entrance and drop into the lower area. Two Skull Kids sit by the stump and play short tunes. Stand on the stump and play them back with the Ocarina. The tunes get longer in each round, the early rounds pay Rupees, and the third round gives a Piece of Heart. Later wins pay Rupees only.

Dampe’s Gravedigging Tour

Dampe the gravekeeper leaves his shack at night in the Kakariko Graveyard, between 6 PM and 9 PM. Stand in front of a patch of soft ground and talk to him, and for 10 Rupees he digs it up. He will dig any soft-soil patch on his route, and he will even try on paving, so face a patch before you speak. The result is random: Rupees, nothing, or the Piece of Heart. The Piece of Heart can only be found once. See the Kakariko Village chapter for the graveyard.

Anju’s Cuccos

As a child, bring the Cuccos that have escaped around Kakariko Village back to the Cucco Lady, Anju. When they are all back, she thanks you and gives you an empty Bottle. See Bottle Locations.

Super Cucco Game

Once Talon is awake and back at Lon Lon Ranch, he runs a game in the ranch house: find the Super Cuccos among the ordinary Cuccos before time runs out. Winning gives you a Bottle filled with Lon Lon Milk. See the Lon Lon Ranch chapter and Bottle Locations.

Diving Game

The Diving Game is run by a tall Zora at the top of the waterfall in Zora’s Domain. It costs 20 Rupees. He throws five Blue Rupees into the pool below, and you must jump from the waterfall and dive for all five within 50 seconds. Then you go back to the Zora to claim the Silver Scale, which lets you dive deeper and reach the Letter in a Bottle. Afterwards the game can be replayed: ten Rupees of random colours are thrown, and you get to keep what you collect, with no prize for taking them all. See the Zora’s River and Domain chapter.

Mini-games for either age

Musical Frogs

Five frogs swim under a log in Zora’s River. Stand on the log and play for them: Zelda’s Lullaby, Epona’s Song, Saria’s Song, Sun’s Song and Song of Time each make one frog grow, and each song pays 50 Rupees. The Song of Storms makes all of them sing, and they give you a Piece of Heart. Once every frog has grown, the frogs ask you to help them eat butterflies. When a butterfly settles above a frog, play that frog’s note on the Ocarina. Complete the run to win a second Piece of Heart. You learn the Song of Storms as an adult, so both Pieces of Heart are collected in practice by adult Link. See the Zora’s River and Domain chapter.

Fishing Pond

The Fishing Pond is on an island in Lake Hylia, open at any hour. Pay 20 Rupees and the Fishing Hole Man hands you a rod for unlimited time. You can keep only one fish at a time, and each catch is weighed. A child needs a fish of 10 pounds or more for the Piece of Heart. An adult needs one of 13 pounds or more to win the Golden Scale, which lets you dive deeper. The fish are bigger when you return as an adult. The biggest fish of all is the Hylian Loach, which pays 50 Rupees and is then released. The sinking lure is against the rules, and the owner will not give a prize if you use it. Use the normal lure, and catch the big fish near the tree trunk in the middle of the pond.

Mini-games for adult Link

Shooting Gallery in Kakariko Village

Once the Market is a ruin, the gallery moves to Kakariko Village. It uses the Bow, costs 20 Rupees and has the same ten targets, but they appear in a random order. You can play before you have the Fairy Bow, but then you only win 50 Rupees. A first perfect round with the bow wins the larger Quiver, and later wins pay 50 Rupees.

Dampe’s Race

Dampe died during the seven years you slept, and his ghost waits in his grave in the Kakariko Graveyard. His diary in his shack tells you what he promised you. Race him through the winding tomb, staying close behind his flame and rolling past obstacles. Finishing the first time gives you the Hookshot. Finish in under one minute on a later attempt to win a Piece of Heart. If you finish more slowly, you get a Red Rupee. Once you have the Hookshot, you can use it on a torch to shave seconds off.

Horseback Archery

The range is at the back of Gerudo’s Fortress, and you need the Gerudo’s Membership Card to enter. It costs 20 Rupees per run. You ride Epona around the range and shoot at targets with up to 20 arrows, and more accurate hits score more points. Score 1000 or more to win a Piece of Heart, and 1500 or more on a later run to win the Biggest Quiver. See the Gerudo Fortress chapter.

Ingo’s Race

At Lon Lon Ranch in the adult era, Ingo charges 10 Rupees to ride a horse. After one ride you can pay another 50 Rupees to race him. After you beat him once, he challenges you again, this time betting Epona. Beat him a second time and the horse is yours. He closes the gate to trap you, but Epona can jump it. See the Lon Lon Ranch chapter.

Malon’s Obstacle Course

When Ingo has changed his ways, Malon sets a course of fences in the paddock. Ride Epona for two laps and clear the jumps in under 50 seconds. If you beat it, she has a cow delivered to your house in Kokiri Forest, which gives you Lon Lon Milk whenever you play Epona’s Song next to it.

Running Man Race

In Gerudo Valley, the Running Man is stuck in the carpenters’ tent. Once the carpenters repair the bridge, he challenges you to a race to the bridge outside Kokiri Forest. He always wins by one second, so there is no prize. Your best time is saved in your house in Kokiri Forest.

Big Poe Hunt

The Poe Collector buys Big Poes in the ruins of the Hyrule Castle Town. Find ten and bring them in to receive a Bottle as the fourth reward. See Big Poes for how to find them.

Secrets and hidden places

Forest Stage

Hidden in the Lost Woods is a stage where Deku Scrubs reward masks. Wear the Skull Mask for the Deku Stick upgrade and the Mask of Truth for the Deku Nut upgrade. The Lens of Truth reveals the hole that leads to it. See Equipment and Capacity Upgrades and Mask Trading Sequence.

Grottoes

Hyrule has dozens of small hidden caves called grottoes. Each holds one of a few things: a chest with Rupees, a Business Scrub shop, a pair of cows, a Gold Skulltula, a fairy fountain or a Piece of Heart. To find the entrance, bomb a cracked wall or rock, use the Megaton Hammer on a marked boulder, play the Song of Storms on a patch of soft ground in a ring of stones, or look under a bush or rock for a hole. Navi flies toward the entrance when she is close, and the Stone of Agony makes the controller rumble when you are within range of a grotto or a hidden Gold Skulltula. You earn that stone from the House of Skulltula.

Navi’s green spots and fairies

When Navi turns green and hovers over a bare patch of ground, a fairy is hidden there. Play the Sun’s Song to summon a fairy that fills your magic. Play the Song of Storms to summon one that restores your hearts and magic. These are free refills in the field.

Lon Lon Milk

Once you have an empty Bottle, play Epona’s Song next to any cow, for example at Lon Lon Ranch, to fill it with Lon Lon Milk. Each bottle restores several hearts and has two drinks.

Gossip Stones

Gossip Stones give hints and jokes when you speak to them wearing the Mask of Truth. Some of them also react to songs, bombs or the Hammer, and a few hide fairies. See Gossip Stone Locations for where each stone stands.

Planning a route

Do the child games while Link is still small: Bombchu Bowling, the Treasure Chest Game, Richard, the Lost Woods games, the Diving Game, Dampe’s tour and the Market Shooting Gallery. Save the adult games for the second half. For the full list of Pieces of Heart and where each is found, use the Heart Piece Locations guide.