The Legend of Zelda — Overworld Map (As Emoji)

The Legend of Zelda is a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) adventure game. Link goes one a quest to save Zelda. Even though the copyright year says 1986, the game was ahead of its time. The “Overworld” is an open world. Only two of the 128 screens are inaccessible at the start.

And if you read the Legend of Zelda instruction booklet, it mentions mapmaking. The first Zelda game is a big game, especially during the 8-BIT era, so it’s easy to get lost. But essentially, the map is a grid — 16 columns and 8 rows.

Another interesting design of the Overworld is that there’s no more than one secret or special feature per area. That’s where this Emoji map can help. It highlights important locations in the game, without revealing too many secrets.

If you prefer a more detailed map, there’s a video on Photics.TV that shows the Legend of Zelda Overworld in 4K. It also highlights many of the secrets before ever stepping one foot into the underworld.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h	i	j	k	l	m	n	o	p
1		🚪		🚪	💊	9️⃣		🚪			🗡️	5️⃣	🏪	💊	📃	💎
2	🎰		🏪	💎	🚪		🎰				🗣️	🧭	🧙🏻	🚇	🚪	🎰
3	🪦	⚔️	6️⃣	🚇	🏋️	🏪			💎				❤️	💎		❤️
4	🪦	🪦		💊	💍			1️⃣		🧚🏻			2️⃣	💎
5	🪦	🪦	7️⃣	🧚🏻	🏪	4️⃣	🛡️	❤️	💎	🚇	🏪	💊		🏪	💎
6		💎					💎					💎			🏪	❤️
7		🧭	💎	🚪	💊		🏪	💎			🚪	💎		8️⃣		🏪
8	🗣️	💎			3️⃣	👵🏻	🎰	🔰	💊	🚇		❤️	🎰	🚪

Map Legend

🔰 — Start
❤️ — Heart Container
1️⃣ — Dungeon Location
📃 — Letter To Little Old Lady
💊 — Potion Shop
🏪 — Shop
💍 — Shop With Blue Ring (Cheap Bait Too)
🛡️ — Shop With Large Shield (Cheapest)
🏋️ — Power Bracelet
🎰 — Money-Making Game (Gambling)
💎 — Secret To Everybody (Gain Money)
🚪 — Door Repair (Lose Money)
🗣️ — Secret Info (Costs Money)
👵🏻 — Old Woman Advice
🧙🏻 — Old Man Advice
🪦 — Graveyard
🚇 — Quick Travel
🧚🏻 — Fairy Spring
🧭 — Maze (B7: ↑←↓← | L2: ↑↑↑↑)
🗡️ — White Sword (5 Hearts)
⚔️ — Magic Sword (12 Hearts)