Puzzle

Puzzles are a popular, intriguing facet of the The Legend of Zelda games, particularly used in dungeons. They are some of the Zelda series' main trademarks, and some of the more simplistic puzzles are repeated throughout the series, including the Torch, Enemy, Block, Arrow, Return and Switch Puzzles.

Torch Puzzle
The Torch Puzzle involves the lighting of one or more torches by fire in order to receive access to another room, treasure chest, or the like. Fire Arrows, Din's Fire, shooting an arrow through fire, lighting a Deku Stick from another fire source, or using the Lantern are all viable ways to conquer torch puzzles, dependent on the puzzles' specific solution.

Enemy Puzzle
The Enemy Puzzle puzzle involves a room or area in which one or several enemies must be defeated to move on. In The Legend of Zelda series, this puzzle takes three forms: the multi-pronged strike, the miniboss puzzle, and the boss puzzle.

Multi-Pronged Strike
This type of Enemy Puzzle pits Link against multiple foes in a single room, often enemies with collective strength much lower than that of Link. Seen in the Fire Temple of, and in the Lakebed Temple of , all of these enemies must be defeated for the enemy puzzle to be accomplished. Sometimes, such puzzles will keep a reward or door hidden unless the foes in the room are defeated in a certain order.

Mini-Boss
The MiniBoss enemy puzzle is seldom seen outside of dungeons because they incorporate a single, strong enemy (that usually guards a dungeon item) that yields an open door, or a necessary item when defeated. Some examples include Death Sword and Ook from

Boss
In the Boss puzzle, a large, strong monster that holds a Heart Container prevents Link from moving on to the next dungeon until it is defeated. this type of enemy puzzle is only seen in the dungeons: examples include Gleerok from and Gyorg from {{MM}.

Block Puzzle
The Block Puzzle involves moving block(s) into a certain position, or the rearranging of blocks to form a picture. This may be to press a switch, or to create a step which can be used to gain high ground, etc. The Poe Sister, Amy, from the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time incorporates the block-picture approach in her defeat. A variation of this puzzle, as seen in Oracle of Ages, is to push a block in a way that a certain color is on top, and the block itself in a hole, igniting a flame.

Arrow Puzzle
The Arrow Puzzle, simply involves shooting a target to open a door. For example, shooting a golden eye above a door, with a projectile, can open that door. Sometimes the target moves, or Link is on a moving platform, making this puzzle more difficult.

Return Puzzle
One of the most commonly reoccurring puzzles is the Return Puzzle; a puzzle in which a player must leave a room and return later with an extra item or key. The return puzzle most often happens in rooms with many exits.

Switch Puzzle
Switches in the form of levers and buttons are prevalent in the series.
 * Lever: Needs to be pushed or pulled. Some inaccessible levers require use of Hookshot (pull), Seed Shooter (push), or Bombs (when timing is needed).
 * Button: Many varieties exist, but can be broken down to positive and negative actions. Positively activated buttons require a weight to be added or placed upon it. Negatively activated buttons require a weight to be removed from it.

Trivia
Although many temples and dungeons in the Zelda series incorporate at least one of these techniques, the temples of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask make use of all of them.