TOM FRANCIS
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Spelunky Tips

Spelunky is now out on console box, and is awesome and everyone loves it. I’ve played both versions a ridiculous amount, and brother do I got some tips.

Lots of Spelunky’s mechanics are simple in principle but really, really, really hard to reliably master. When figuring out what route is worth taking, factor in the risk you might screw up and get hit by something.

Sometimes it’s worth a bomb to avoid that risk. Sometimes it’s worth leaving treasure behind. The option that gets you to the exit with the least chance of harm is usually the one that ultimately leads to the most money, bombs, and kissing. The option that involves these things can go to hell:

Spiders: sprint under them, turn around, and whip them when they land – they always fall directly down initially, and pause on the ground.
Bats: whip then jump. Lets you intercept them higher, getting a more horizontal angle at them, and ensures you’re already whipping when they reach you.
If you screw up: ropes are a good last resort way to hit something directly above you.
Big spiders: hold up and throw a bomb into the web below them.
Dart traps: if you’re short of something to drop, tiny critters like rats work. Failing that, dropping a rope down works. Failing that, whip just before you fall into its line of fire, and you’ll bat the arrow out of the air.

If it’s gonna cost you a rope or bomb to get to a crate, do it. I do it even if it’s going to cost me two, because 80% of the time it’s three bombs or three ropes. The rest of the time, it’s either something amazing (Cape!) or something fun to play with (Freeze Ray).

I have basically the same policy for ladies, men and pugs. The better you get at avoiding ultra-fatal stuff like spikes, the more useful an extra heart is, and the more likely you are to be able to save someone without losing a health point doing it. I just lost SEVEN hearts in a catastrophic chain reaction set off by an unexpected skeleton in the ice caverns, and went on to reach the final boss (7 levels later). Who squished me.

Buying kisses is also totally ethical and totally worth it early on. The price increases as the game goes on, but not nearly as harshly as it used to in the PC version – retail smooching is certainly still worth it in the jungle.

Unless you know for sure there’s no shop or kissing parlour lower than the idol plinth. If there is, the boulder will hit it, you’ll get the blame and shopkeepers will hound you forever.

In the jungle, gold idols are worth it, bone idols are worth it if they’re near the exit. In the ice caverns, idols are worth it if you have a clear escape route. In Egypt, get the girl to safety first.

The gold key and chest in the mines get you an artifact that lets you see gems and stuff embedded in the rock. Most gem types are worth more than a bomb (definitely rubies and sapphires), so once you have this, you can start bomb-mining. If you last more than a few levels, you’re liable to encounter a shop selling bombs to turn your earnings back into a way to make more money. It’s super efficient!

Doing this, I generally end up with 25-45 bombs by the time I reach the last set of levels. This is very handy in the last set of levels. It’s also very handy if you ever find the city of gold. And it’s very handy for the final boss.

I reckon it goes Jetpack > Shotgun > Cape > Springy Boots > Pickaxe > Bombs > Boomerang > Spike Shoes > Compass > Ropes. Mystery gifts are worth it if you can afford it after everything else. Anything else I don’t buy. In general, stuff you have to hold in your hands isn’t super valuable because it makes rescuing people incredibly awkward and time consuming.

It’s hilarious, tense, maddening and ridiculous on a whole new level – everything matters more when someone else is kinda depending on you. It is really hard to avoid friendly fire, so I reckon two careful spelunkers is the optimal number for fun. Unfortunately you can’t play online.

In co-op, those coffins contain friends who died on previous levels. In single player, they contain interesting people! They’ll help you out for one level, then you can play as them in future. I just got a guy with a lime green sombrero, and he is bringing me great fortune.

PS. I wrote this big feature about why Spelunky is awesome, and talked to Derek about the future of randomised games, in the past:

The text of it is now online, and the future happened.

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