Spelunky; the game for real men

[Sethamundo]

Enjoy Roguelikes?
Enjoy 2D platformers?
Enjoy infinite replay value?
Spelunky could be the next game to suck countless hours from your life!

Granted, I realize Spelunky has become quite a popular indie game, it's a gem of a game for those who haven't discovered it.

"Probably the easiest way to describe Spelunky is that it's (kind of) like La Mulana meets Nethack - every time you play the levels, items, monsters, and so forth, are all procedurally-generated.  And the terrain is destructible and there are quite a few ways in which the various game elements can interact with one another."

More or less, Spelunky is for masochist gamers in that it punishes mistakes without mercy, and can leave you killed by the smallest things, leaving you angry at yourself.  Yes, at yourself.  I'd venture to say that roughly 90% if not more deaths are caused by player carelessness.


I myself am sitting at 700 plays, 698 deaths, 2 wins.
The game is easily playable with a keyboard, but I use a gamepad because it's much easier.

Now to the good bits.


Rescue these damsels for extra HP!


You can donate money to the Tunnel Man and eventually pay off shortcuts as you come to them to allow you to start at later levels.


There are various shops and places to gamble, some of which sell kisses from damsels for HP.  It's up to you whether to try and steal goods run, pay legitimately, or attempt to murder the shopkeeper.  He's easily angered, mind you, and doesn't take kindly to any sorts of vandalism or hostile action.

The game has depth that you probably won't realize until you really give it a chance.  Be it running from the boulders released by certain "traps", sacrificing living things on Kali alters, or shooting arrows into the walls to create places to hang from.  I won't spoil any more of it, you'll have to start the trial and error process on your own.

The Wiki has heaps of useful information as well as tactics, statistics for enemies, and useful ways to use items you find.
http://spelunky.wikia.com/wiki/Spelunky_Wiki

You can find the latest version of Spelunky here;
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=4017.0

[Espadon]

Absolutely loved Nethack so I'm gonna give this a try.

[Sethamundo]

Absolutely loved Nethack so I'm gonna give this a try.

I actually read through the wiki for a bit before I even started playing.  It got my interest in the game sky-rocketing just by learning the possibilities, then trying them in-game.

[Lord Frunkamunch]

I cannot recommend this game enough. I've racked up well over a thousand deaths, and it's still fun. This game will have you infuriated over stupid mistakes, and feeling like a total badass after a plan gone right. The difficulty is best defined as "hard but fair", in that the most seemingly innocuous situations can eat you for breakfast and shit out your bones, but you always know that it was your fault. Everything you do can be traced back to a mistake you made, so you keep making fewer and fewer until you're zooming through the levels like a goddamn spelunking machine.

Also, you have no right to give up until you've beaten it at least once. It's not allowed.

[Blacksheepboy]

I am rather surprised this was done in Game Maker. The last time I used Game Maker was years ago, and it was to make a crappy Metroid ripoff.

[Kagesha]

spent 90% of my time so far trying to kill the shopkeeper, still haven't killed him yet . accidently killed the damsel by throwing her on spikes lol. this game is awesome. end of discussion.

[Blacksheepboy]

spent 90% of my time so far trying to kill the shopkeeper, still haven't killed him yet . accidently killed the damsel by throwing her on spikes lol. this game is awesome. end of discussion.

Ditto, haha. I killed the damsel, but was still able to toss her body at snakes n stuff.

[Sethamundo]

spent 90% of my time so far trying to kill the shopkeeper, still haven't killed him yet . accidently killed the damsel by throwing her on spikes lol. this game is awesome. end of discussion.

Ditto, haha. I killed the damsel, but was still able to toss her body at snakes n stuff.

Wield her corpse as a weapon of concentrated fury, then sacrifice her to Kali for ultra favor! (More favor for them if they're alive, though)

[Blacksheepboy]

Whenever I have a damsel, I can't find an alter >.< well, I'm only at 30 deaths.

[Sethamundo]

Whenever I have a damsel, I can't find an alter >.< well, I'm only at 30 deaths.

The beauty of randomly generated levels shining in it's purest form!

[Lord Frunkamunch]

Easy way to kill the shopkeeper:
Pick up a pot
walk up next to him
throw the pot at him
QUICKLY pick up his dropped shotgun
murder him dead
steal his stuff

     keep in mind that even if you do succeed, there will be a shopkeeper waiting at the exit of every level for the rest of the game. obviously, this means robbing him for a few ropes or bombs is not worth it at all.
     There are way to avoid incurring their wrath, though. If you get a teleporter and warp directly into the shopkeeper, he'll die instantly and no one will ever know the better.
     And in the second zone, you can throw a piranha plant near him and steal his stuff while he's being digested. (Note that this approach has a time limit - you have to steal everything and exit the level before he breaks free)

[ds dude]

The game is really fun, I started playing it again ever since Frunkamunch posted it in the posting a pic in the game screenshot thread.

[DarkCrusade]

Oh, now Soldat isn't the only 2D game I like to play. Maybe I should dump it now before I get an addict :S

[Horve]

You made me feel like a real man
Tunneling and dying remind me of motherload for some incomprehensible reasons.

[swebonny]

I've heard much about this game, but never really given it a go. Makes me think about Cave story from the screenshots.

[Zero72]

I've got some Spelunky under my belt.



Edit: Come to think of it, this isn't current. I've got a higher cash score now, if not by a huge amount.

[demoniac93]

You made me feel like a real man
Tunneling and dying remind me of motherload for some incomprehensible reasons.

Motherload doesn't get even get close to being as awesome as this.
DL'ed it, been playing for 10 minutes and I already got 12 deaths xD

[iDante]

Well there goes my weekend.

Awesome game.

[SadistAtHeart]

Damn I haven't had fun like this since the inquisition. Thanks for the thread.

[Horve]

You made me feel like a real man
Tunneling and dying remind me of motherload for some incomprehensible reasons.

Motherload doesn't get even get close to being as awesome as this.
DL'ed it, been playing for 10 minutes and I already got 12 deaths xD

Even more a reason for me to try it, then, I suppose.