Zelda Skyward Sword Eyeball Door
Image: Nintendo Life

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is full of fiendish puzzles that will test your mental skills as well as your dexterity with the eponymous sword-y action. However, of all the head-scratchers we came across in our time with the game on Switch (or the Wii original, in fact), there was only one puzzle that had us genuinely foxed until we looked up how to do it — the 'Eye Doors' you encounter first in Skyview Temple, the first dungeon in the game.

In this mini-guide, we'll show you how to beat them. Spoilers: you just spin your sword around.

How to open Eyeball Doors in Zelda: Skyward Sword

When you get to the first dungeon — Skyview Temple deep in Faron Woods — you'll soon come across locked doors with big eyeballs sitting on them. The eyes open and watch you (well, what else is an eye going to do?), but they won't let you pass.

The key to getting past these sentry eyeballs lies in using your sword. Unsheathe your blade and you may notice that the eyeball (or eyeballs, on occasion, as you can see above) follows it as you wave your sword around.

In order to open the doors, simply rotate your blade in a big circle several times, making sure the eye is following. After a couple of rotations the eyeballs get dizzy and turn red before disappearing from the sheer overwhelmitude of it all, unlocking the door they were guarding in the process.

Double Facepalm Link Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
Link double-facepalmed when he realised how simple it was. — Image: Nintendo Life

And that's it! Simple when you know how, but we spent an embarrassingly long time trying to shoot them with projectiles, reflect light into them and all sorts of things; all we had to do was spin them right round, baby, right round.


Looks like you reached the end of this guide; why not head back to our Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD hub for more tips and help for the game?

There you'll find tips on the pros and cons of motion controls vs. analogue stick control, a list of the main differences between Skyward Sword on Switch and the Wii original, how to use the Zelda & Loftwing amiibo, where to find the Moonlight Merchant and the Thunder Dragon, and how to beat every boss and minigame.

You'll also find guides for all heart piece locations, all goddess cubes, and where to find every Gratitude Crystal, every upgrade treasure, every bug, and every potion recipe to fill your bottles with.