Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze - All Puzzle Pieces, Secret Exits & Kong Letters

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Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is back on a new console — the Nintendo Switch! On the handheld hybrid, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze looks better and plays smoother than ever before, and to celebrate the banana-loving one’s return, we’re diving into each individual island and revealing where to find every single KONG coin, puzzle piece, and secret level exit.

That’s a whole lot of stuff. There are between 5 and 9 puzzle pieces per level, and four KONG coins too. There are only a total of 10 secret exits, but those exits always lead to new hidden levels with even more collectibles for you to grab. If you’re looking to 100% the game, here’s a rundown of all the locations, in order from start to finish.

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More Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze guides on Gameranx:

All Puzzle Pieces, Secret Exits & Kong Letters | World 1: Lost Mangroves

There are four K-O-N-G letters in each stage, and a variable number of puzzle pieces. Finding all the KONG letters will unlock bonus stages in the world.

Puzzle pieces unlock additional concept art in the “Extras” menu. Puzzle pieces are often in secret areas, rewarded for completing bonus areas, or given when collecting certain bunches of bananas.

Secret Exits are special exits to levels that take you to new, completely unique levels. If you’re missing a level in the world, it’s because you need to find a secret exit.

1-1: Mangrove Cove

Puzzle Piece #1: The first puzzle piece is found when you jump into the water. Swim down and look behind the metal debris in the underwater-left corner.
K Letter: After taking a swim in the first water area of the level, find the K between the two trees.
Puzzle Piece #2: Past the swinging platform, jump up and backtrack to a tall tree with a plump fruit. Ground-slap to make the piece pop out.
Puzzle Piece #3: After lowering the metal platforms, chase (and catch!) the flying bananas. Get all the bananas and the piece will appear.
Puzzle Piece #4: Under a Venus Fly Trap attached to the ceiling, ground-slap the floor to reveal a hidden area with a puzzle piece at the end.
Puzzle Piece #5: Grab Diddy Kong, then backtrack to the hanging Venus Fly Trap. Jump on him and then hop to a platform. It will lower and reveal a puzzle piece.
O Letter: In the second lake, jump from the floating platform to the right, under a wooden platform / tree.
Puzzle Piece #6: Jump into the barrel cannon ahead and time your shot so you hit the spinning puzzle piece. If you miss, you’ll have to try again.
N Letter: In the barrel cannon sequence, aim left when you reach the diamond-shaped configuration.
Puzzle Piece #7: Crossing the wooden decks (from the pirate beach) ground-slap the barrels above a metal platform. It leads down to a mini-game — grab all the bananas the pigs throw to get a puzzle piece.
G Letter: On the swinging platforms above the spikes, look for a target symbol. Grab an enemy and throw it at the target to spin the platform so Kong can get the last letter.
Puzzle Piece #8: From the G Letter, jump left to reach a secret cannon barrel that sends you into a special mini-game. Complete it to get this piece.
Puzzle Piece #9: Found past the level exit! Jump over the spikes and pull the plug to get this one.

1-2: Shipwreck Shore

Puzzle Piece #1: Look left of the starting point. Smash the crates and pull the plug.
Puzzle Piece #2: Find Dozy, and swim under the boat — the puzzle piece is deep in the water, beneath the ship.
K Letter: On the ship itself, use Dixie Kong to fly up and onto the swinging platforms.
Puzzle Piece #3: On the same big ship, smash all the crates and slap the metal floor to drop into a mini-game. Grab the puzzle piece at the end.
O Letter: Exiting the ship from the hanging platforms, follow the bananas to grab the O letter before a leaping shark bites you.
Puzzle Piece #4: Past the sharks, there’s a patch of green grass above that Kong can cling to. Climb up and left to find a secret area. Jump into the rocks to the left!
Puzzle Piece #5: While climbing across more grass, hit the plump fruit to make a hanging bag appear. Smash the bag with the stuff in the second plump fruit to make the piece appear.
Puzzle Piece #6: In the coral reef, swim down and smash the wooden wall in the lower-left corner. Grab all the spinning bananas!
Puzzle Piece #7: Just to the right of the previous piece, smash the wooden crates.
N Letter: Easy! While underwater, look for the submerged cave you can find. The piece is floating around in the water below.
Puzzle Piece #8: Under the big buoy, clear the underwater seaweed and open the chest that appears.
G Letter: While riding the bouncing boat, bounce up onto the climbing grass near the top of the level and hang on to reach an easily visible (but not always easily grabbable) letter.
Secret Exit: At the three bouncing grasshoppers on the three crates, fight the current down to find the hidden exit. Dixie can help with that.
Puzzle Piece #9: Grab all the bananas while riding the floating, bouncing raft.

1-3: Canopy Chaos

Puzzle Piece #1: Early in the level, jump on the shell enemy and throw it into the target-shaped rock to the left. It’ll break and open a mini-game path. Complete the game in thirty seconds to get a puzzle piece.
K Letter: Attached to a spinning metal wheel. Time your jump to grab it.
Puzzle Piece #2: On the green tree platforms, hop across the spikes to the right (with Kranky) to reveal a hidden path that leads to a floating piece.
O Letter: Up the tree tops, look under the squid clinging to the metal struts.
Puzzle Piece #3: At the top of the vertical tree path, pull the top-left corner plug to lower the wooden platform covered in spikes. Bounce with Kranky to grab the piece.
N Lettter: On the vines you’ll hop across with the spinning spikes below.
Puzzle Piece #4: Throw a shell enemy at the hanging bag after jumping across the swinging vines.
Puzzle Piece #5: At the waterfalls, climb across a gap with green ceiling grass, then bounce up onto the platform above the grass to find a hidden area.
Puzzle Piece #6: When you reach a waterwheel with two water pipes right past it, jump up and left to the high green tree top and jump left again to find a secret minigame.
G Letter: Past the pair of water pipes, sneak under the spinning turbines to find two more pipes. Climb the vine to reach this letter.
Puzzle Piece #7: In the exit room, smash the box to the right of the exit barrel and bounce up to find a hidden puzzle piece.
Secret Exit: There’s a secret exit in the area with the previous puzzle piece. Use Kranky to jump even higher and get to the secret platforms leading to exit. You’ll need Kranky to get through the spikes.

1-4: Trunk Twister

Puzzle Piece #1: Drop through the metal platform near the Diddy Kong barrel to find a mini-game challenge.
K Letter: While riding the minecart, don’t jump after crossing the airplane! Instead, ride under the tracks, then jump after grabbing the K.
Puzzle Piece #2: Ahead, bounce off the flying bugs to collect a floating puzzle piece.
O Letter: Duck under the propellers then jump to grab the letter O.
N Letter: Ahead, you’ll jump to a platform that rises up rapidly. Instead of jumping, just fall off to drop down and collect the N on the edge of the next track.
Puzzle Piece #3: Duck under a burning plane with four propellers, but don’t jump when you reach the wobbly platform. Drop down and ride below to grab the puzzle piece.
G Letter: Right after passing under hanging crates, jump onto the box ahead and jump again to reach this letter.
Puzzle Piece #4: Riding on the submarine that appears, don’t jump at the next pit. Instead, just drop down to the tracks below to effortlessly get another piece.
Puzzle Piece #5: The last puzzle piece is beneath the exit barrel plane.

1-A: Zip-Line Shrine

Puzzle Piece #1: Slap the platform beneath the end-point of the first zip-line to find a hidden area.
K Letter: Hop up at the end of the second zip-line sequence.
Puzzle Piece #2: Pull the plug before the first checkpoint and grab all the bananas.
O Letter: After the checkpoint, hop up on the wobbly platform and jump to the letter to the left.
N Letter: At the next zip-line, ride the line all the way to the end.
Puzzle Piece #3: Pull the plug in the ground before entering the first cannon barrel. Jump into this barrel that appears and complete the mini-game.
Puzzle Piece #4: After dropping into the cannon barrel that moves vertically, wait and launch when the barrel is lined up with the piece.
G Letter: Ahead, you’ll reach a wobbly platform with the last letter below. Time your jump and bounce off the penguins to get the letter.
Puzzle Piece #5: Later, you’ll land on a platform with a swinging vine leading to a cannon barrel. Drop below the platform and collect the bananas that appear (after pulling the plug) before riding the vine.

1-B: Busted Bayou

Puzzle Piece #1: At the start of the level, go left!
Puzzle Piece #2: Go right to a raised platform. Smash through the “wall” and unfurl the fruit plant in the hidden area before jumping onto the shack roof.
K Letter: On the raising / lowering platforms, you’ll need to hop between the levels of the second platform.
Puzzle Piece #3: After the checkpoint, pull the plug to make a beanstalk appear. Jump up and ride the swinging vine.
O Letter: Further down the path, pull a hanging vine to lower three platforms. Jump on them to reach a floating letter.
Puzzle Piece #4: Smash the rock after reaching the midway point, pull the plug and follow the banana — grab every banana on the path to get a piece reward.
Puzzle Piece #5: While climbing down the vine, stop when you reach a vine that appears to look like a star when Kong stops at it, creating an outline around DK himself. Collect the bananas that appear!
Puzzle Piece #6: Dropping down the second part of the stage, look left for a hanging vine. Jump on it to lower platforms.
Puzzle Piece #7: And ahead, to the right, there’s another plug DK can pull to summon a beanstalk with a puzzle piece on the top.
N Letter: At the top of the large vine that unfurls.
Puzzle Piece #8: On the propeller rig, align the platforms like steps leading gradually down — or until bananas appear on all the platforms. Roll down the broken steps.
Puzzle Piece #9: Before the barrel cannon leading to the exit, pull the vine and collect all the bananas.
G Letter: In the final room, use the moving platforms (and pull the vine) to jump up and reach it.

1-K: Swinger Flinger

Puzzle Piece #1: On the second set of tracks, found above spikes.
Puzzle Piece #2: At the spike-covered swinging vine, pull the plug below.
Puzzle Piece #3: Find the spikes the go in-and-out, and bounce off the penguin enemy in the maze-like area.
Puzzle Piece #4: Grab all the bananas and coins while climbing the four vines obstacle course.
Puzzle Piece #5: Ground-slap near the big vase near the level exit barrel.