Summary

• Although perhaps best known for its characters and story, The Legend of Zelda has a strong emphasis on puzzles in every game.
• A variety of puzzles are exceptionally difficult, leaving players frustrated and in need of a guide or walkthrough.
• Difficult puzzles have appeared all across the Zelda series, from Link's Awakening to Tears of the Kingdom.

The Legend of Zelda is a beloved franchise with memorable characters, settings, and stories that tug at heartstrings. However, these games are also filled with puzzles that can lead to endless frustration and dread that comes with specific sections. At least guides are available to help Link get through these obstacles and save Zelda and Hyrule.

The most recent entry to this franchise, Tears of the Kingdom, certainly has a lot of puzzles given the sheer number of shrines scattered throughout Hyrule, but only a handful of them are frustrating. Others the list of difficult puzzles from past games that leave Link trapped in a dungeon or require the player to step away from the console and return later. Here's a list of Zelda puzzles that continue to leave Link stumped and frustrated.

10 Built For Rails Shrine Puzzle

Tears Of The Kingdom

Built for Rails is the puzzle of Jiukoum Shrine, which is found in the Popla Foothills in Tears of the Kingdom. Solving this puzzle requires extensive use of Ultrahand and a lot of Zonai devices. The goal is to travel across each set of rails using a vehicle constructed by Link until he reaches the end and receives his blessing. Naturally, each set is more complicated than the previous one, making this puzzle increasingly frustrating.

9 Temple Of The Ocean King Map Puzzle

Phantom Hourglass

Phantom Hourglass was a Zelda game released for the Nintendo DS, and its Temple of the Ocean King is especially frustrating. Part of the reason is that Link has to keep returning to the temple and exploring more of it, needing to enter a minimum of five times to complete it. Aside from the tedium, its most difficult puzzle requires closing the DS to solve, imprinting a map from the top screen of the device onto its bottom screen. It's the kind of out-of-the-box solution that is genius in retrospect, but annoying for how unintuitive it is.

8 Forest Temple Green Poe Puzzle

Ocarina Of Time

Ocarina of Time has several puzzles that are frustrating and difficult to the solutions to when stepping back into the game for a new playthrough. The Green Poe Puzzle is in the Forest Temple, and it's one of several colored Poes that Link needs to defeat. However, summoning this one requires speed and precision. Blocks fall from the ceiling and need to be arranged to match a nearby painting. Also, one block is extra, which can lead to wasted time, since Link only has a single minute to arrange the blocks.

7 Sacred Grove Guardian Statue Puzzle

Twilight Princess

In the Sacred Grove of Twilight Princess, Link comes across a puzzle that looks similar to a chessboard with two statues on it. Link needs to take control of the statues and guide them to specific locations on the board. However, the statues have to be controlled at the same time, and they move in opposite directions from each other. That means that getting a statue stuck on a platform to move the other one becomes a crucial strategy that's required to position them properly.

6 Jabu Jabu's Belly Water Level Puzzle

Oracle Of Ages

Not to be confused with the dungeon of the same name in Ocarina of Time, the variation in Oracle of Ages is much more difficult. Like the Water Temple in OoT, this dungeon requires water manipulation to drain certain areas and fill others. And that means it's easy to get confused about which sections need to be filled and when, leading to backtracking and frustration when the wrong areas are filled or drained.

5 Under A Red Moon Shrine Puzzle

Breath Of The Wild

Located in Washa's Bluff in Breath of the Wild, Mijah Rokee Shrine is frustrating due to the method for opening it. Kass is in the area and sings a song that has the instructions for how to enter the shrine, but trying to do so without speaking to him makes it almost impossible to figure out, since the instructions are so specific. Link needs to stand on the pedestal of the shrine during a Blood Moon without any armor or clothes equipped in order to enter the shrine.

4 Stone Temple Transformation Puzzles

Majora's Mask

Stone Temple is in Majora's Mask's Ikana Canyon, and it's available after Link learns the "Elegy of Emptiness," since the copies produced from the song are required to solve puzzles and activate switches to even reach the temple. Link needs to use each of the Hylian, Deku, Zora, and Goron forms in this temple to solve puzzles and defeat bosses. And then, for added difficulty, there's a section that requires turning the entirety of the tower upside down.

3 Water Temple Water Level Puzzle

Ocarina Of Time

Ocarina of Time's Water Temple is notoriously difficult for a few reasons. The dungeon layout consists of multiple levels that are primarily reached by swimming, which means that different levels need to be activated with the switches at various times, just like the Oracle of Age's version of Jabu Jabu's Belly. Then, the temple involves a fight against Dark Link, who has the same skill set as normal Link, making for a difficult battle. Simply reaching this mini-boss is a struggle, though, as navigating the Water Temple is one of the most difficult puzzles in the game.

2 Dizzy Eyes Door Puzzles

Skyward Sword

Skyward Sword features eyes that act as locks for doors, not allowing Link access when they're looking at him. The difficult part here is that Skyward Sword relies on motion controls much more than most Zelda games, and it made that part of getting past these locks, but it doesn't give Link hints about what to do. The end result is that Link needs to use his sword to make the eyes dizzy, allowing him to get past them. However, the unique method used here for a solution can be a bit frustrating.

1 Turtle Rock Non-Combat Puzzles

Link's Awakening

Turtle Rock involves a lot of battles that repeat previous encounters, but also puzzle solutions that aren't usually seen in Zelda games. Having to shoot statues isn't too unusual for a puzzle, considering Ocarina of Time does similar puzzles using paintings, but Link's Awakening has enemies that Link needs to by without fighting multiple times because they can only be killed by attacking them from above. Because of that, it's easy to waste time fighting them on the same level given how often he needs to go through that room.

As much fun as Zelda games can be, they often end up being equally frustrating. When guides were only available through physical copies purchased in stores, it could take much longer to solve those puzzles, since walkthrough videos were less prevalent. But now, those challenges are part of the fun, and having easy access to guides makes tackling these harder puzzles and areas less intimidating in The Legend of Zelda.