Thrill Digger Guide: Tips for Solving and How to Unlock Thrill Digger

This is a guide to Thrill Digger, the minesweeper-like minigame in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD for the Nintendo Switch. Read on to learn how to unlock Thrill Digger, rewards, as well as tips and tricks for solving Thrill Digger!

How to Unlock Thrill Digger

Bomb the Cave Wall at Eldin Volcano

At Eldin Volcano, find a cave on the side of a Bokoblin Camp and roll a bomb towards the rocks to open the cave's entrance. Inside, you can speak with a Mogma named Mr. Tubert to play the minigame.

Eldin Volcano Walkthrough

Thrill Digger Rules

Thrill Digger makes use of the Digging Mitts, which you will use to dig around digging spots to reveal rupees or bombs. This mechanic is reminiscent of the old computer game, Minesweeper. The goal is to get all rupees without digging a single bomb, otherwise it is game over.

Thrill Digger Difficulty Modes

There are three difficulty modes for Thrill Digger, each rising in the number of squares available. The higher the difficulty, the better the value of Rupees, although more bombs will spawn as a result, making it more difficult to win.

Rupoors also appear in Intermediate and Expert levels and deducts 10 Rupees when dug up. They do not cause the game to end when dug up unlike bombs.

Thrill Digger Time Limit

While there are no visible timers, a game of Thrill Digger has a 10 minute time limit. Rest assured that Mr. Turbert will notify you when the time is near, so use it wisely!

Thrill Digger Rewards

Rupees or Random Treasures

The minigame rewards you with the number of Rupees you have dug up. If you have dug up all Rupees without uncovering a single bomb, you will receive a Goddess Plume, Blue Bird Feather, or a Golden Skull as an additional reward. A rare Gold Rupee can also be dug, which can make this a good source of Rupee farming.

Rupee Farming Guide: How to Get Rupees (Money) Quickly

How to Solve Thrill Digger

Use Rupees as an Indicator

The Rupees you dig up indicate if the nearby digging spot has a bomb based on its rarity.

Low-value Rupees such as Green and Blue Rupees have a few bad spots around, so you can safely dig the nearby spots.

If you dig up a rare Rupee such as Red, Silver, or Gold Rupee skip the spot surrounding it as you may uncover a bomb and end the game.

Zanc's Tips

At the back of the cave, you can dig a digging spot, and Zanc, the Mogma, will appear, who can give you tips about Rupees as indicators for 20 Rupees.

See the table below to learn how many Bomb or Rupoor spots can be dug up around a certain Rupee according to Zanc.

Safely dig everything around Green Rupees

When you dig Green Rupees, this means that every adjacent and surrounding digging spots are safe. It is especially useful in Expert mode as it removes a lot of digging spots.

Use Rupoors to Spot Bomb Spots

In Expert mode, you will encounter a Black Rupee called Rupoor which will deduct 10 Rupees from your score after digging it up.

Digging these up does not end the game, but you can use the Rupoor spots to determine that the area you are digging potentially have bomb spots or other Rupoor spots.

Thrill Digger Cave Tips

Recover Health Beside Mr. Tubert

Bombs will still decrease your health points, so before you start digging, make sure to sit on the chair beside Mr. Tubert to recover your health back to full. Plus, you can also talk with Mr. Tubert himself while healing!

Stool Locations: Where to Find Stools

Rupee Ores give extra Rupees

The minigame itself can be tough, and if you are running out of Rupees, you can shoot Rupee Ores embedded on walls, and it will drop Rupees. You can only shoot it once in a single instance.

Note that Rupoors spawn from white Rupee Ores, so only aim at green and blue ores for Green Rupees and Blue Rupees, respectively.

Related Guides

List of Mini Games