EarthBound Cheat Codes & Secrets

EarthBound Cheats & Secrets

EarthBound has no traditional cheat codes but contains numerous secrets, rare items, and hidden mechanics.

The Sword of Kings — Rarest Item

The Sword of Kings is the rarest item in the base game:

• Dropped by Starman Supers in the Stonehenge area
• Drop rate: 1 in 128 (approximately 0.78%)
• Equippable only by Poo

Grinding for this item requires defeating dozens of Starman Supers. Save before entering the area with strong equipment to maximize efficiency. Poo has very few equippable items, making this the most significant optional upgrade available to him.

Magic Butterfly Locations

Magic Butterflies fully restore PP to one character. They appear in specific locations and regenerate when you leave and re-enter:

• Near Ness’s house in Onett (behind the trees)
• Several locations in Saturn Valley
• The Dusty Dunes Desert near the sandstorm areas

The Onett butterfly respawns every time you leave Onett and return, making it an essentially unlimited PP source early in the game.

Mr. Saturn’s Coin Trick

Mr. Saturn in Saturn Valley sells items for Saturn’s coins which you can win from battles in certain areas. The most useful items available include:

• Saturn Ribbon (best female armor)
• IQ Capsule (permanent IQ increase)

The IQ Capsules are particularly valuable for permanently raising Paula and Poo’s IQ (magic stat).

The Sanchez Brothers Chain

In Dusty Dunes Desert, a chain of encounters with the “Sanchez Brothers” (enemies with similar sprites but different names) can be forced by staying in the same general area. Their drops include rare food items. The sequence ends when you defeat all brother variants.

Hidden Sanctuaries

The eight “Your Sanctuary” locations are required for the main story but can be visited in any order once accessible. Each provides a piece of Ness’s “Sound Stone” melody and a boss encounter. Visiting them in the intended order maximizes story coherence.

Ness’s Dream Machine — When to Use

The Dream Machine (which puts Ness into the Magicant dreamworld) must be used when the Sound Stone is complete. Delaying this point gives you access to stronger equipment and levels, making the Magicant sections somewhat easier. The Flying Men there have limited respawns (7 total for the entire game), so don’t use them for easy victories.

Jeff’s IQ Abilities

Jeff’s ability to “Fix Broken Items” depends on his IQ stat. Higher IQ allows fixing more powerful broken items. Some items found or purchased as “broken” require IQ 30+ to fix. Raising Jeff’s IQ through capsules expands his item-fixing range.

The Anti-Piracy Warning

Only relevant if running on original or legitimately emulated hardware: EarthBound contains anti-piracy detection. If the game detects it’s running on pirated hardware or a copied ROM, it subtly increases encounter rates over time, eventually making the game nearly unplayable. The full effect triggers in the Giygas battle where the game appears to lock and then deletes save data after several minutes. This is not a puzzle — it’s deliberate punishment for piracy.

Spam Protection in Jeff’s Notes

Jeff receives notes from his friend Tony through the game. If you trigger many notes in rapid succession through specific action sequences, the system can be exploited to receive multiple notes that overlap in content. This is a minor glitch with no practical benefit.

Leveling Tips

Best early grinding location: Peaceful Rest Valley and Happy Happy Village enemies give excellent EXP in the early game.

Mid-game: Monotoli Building enemies in Fourside give good EXP and drops.

Late-game: The Stonehenge area Starman Super enemies give massive EXP and the Sword of Kings — making this the best late-game grinding location for all purposes.

The Prayer Fight (Giygas Strategy)

The final battle against Giygas is won not with attacks but with Pray (Paula’s ability). After depleting Giygas’s forms, use Paula’s Pray repeatedly. The game simulates the prayers of real people around the world reaching across time to help Ness and friends, and this mechanic (not damage) wins the final encounter. This narrative device — you can only win by having touched the lives of others — is EarthBound’s central emotional statement.