Indie Game Review: Spelunky

Spelunky is an independently developed freeware action adventure game presented by Derek Yu, also known for his work on Diabolika, Eternal Daughter, Aquaria, and various other high quality indie titles. It's 100% free to play (the download link is at the end of this review) and a heavily revamped version is also available to purchase on XBLA. It's been out for a while, but I only just recently discovered it. Let me tell you why I felt the need to ensure you do the same.

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In Spelunky, you fill the shoes of an intrepid cave explorer, delving through increasingly dangerous and difficult caverns filled with deadly traps, dastardly creatures, and glorious treasures. Death is a part of life in Spelunky. The game is not easy, but a careful Spelunker will discover that almost every death is preventable as long as you are cautious and resourceful enough to utilize and understand your surroundings.

No two games of Spelunky are alike. That is to say, each level is randomly generated using a procedural formula that ensures you never see the same cave layouts, enemy or treasure placement, and exit locations twice. This is a key feature of the game, as being able to memorize levels would break the charm of the on-the-fly decision making required for your survival.

There's a fucking spider behind me, isn't there?

 Your overall objective is to proceed to the end of each level while gathering as much treasure as you can along the way, all the while avoiding a variety of interesting and deadly traps and enemies. To help you with this, your Spelunker comes equipped with a selection of ropes, bombs, and his trusty whip. Ropes can be used to scale large walls or safely descend into otherwise fatal drops, bombs can be used to blast through any wall or obstacle in the game or to dispatch more powerful enemies, and your whip is a close-range attack that can help you take care of most regular enemies with good timing and positioning.

While your bombs and ropes are certainly helpful, they are in limited supply and you must always consider whether they are worth using in any given situation, which often forces you to choose more dangerous (and interesting) routes. The beauty of the game is the way the environment interacts with itself and the way it can be utilized to your advantage. Found a rock on the ground? You can pick it up and throw it to hit out-of-reach enemies, or drop it in front of an arrow trap to set it off, thereby making it safe for you to pass. The same can be said for the skulls of more unfortunate adventurers, the arrows fired from traps, ancient pots scattered across the landscape, and even the corpses of defeated enemies. All can be picked up and used to your advantage in a variety of ways. Alternatively you could lure enemies in front of traps to set them off, or find creative ways to avoid them entirely, such as bombing through a nearby wall to create a tunnel under it. The environment is not without its own hazards, though... fall too far down a mineshaft and you'll injure or kill yourself. Get stuck in a spiderweb and you'll find it much harder to avoid enemies. Even the treasures can present hazards - the golden idol, for example, will cause a giant boulder to fall down and try to crush you when you pick it up (in true Indiana Jones fashion).

Snakes... why does it always have to be snakes?

Enemies range from snakes, cavemen, spiders, giant spiders, monkeys that steal your items, skeletons, zombies, man-eating plants, and more. Take too long to finish a level and you might be unlucky enough to see the horrible, invincible ghost which can move through walls and always moves directly toward you. There is enough variety to ensure ongoing enjoyment and they all have unique behavioural and attack patterns, making each one a unique obstacle, especially when combined with the unique challenges set by the various types of environmental hazards.

The game isn't only filled with things that kill you, though! Aside from the various treasures such as gold, gems, and magnificent idols, you can also find Damsels to rescue to receive a kiss (more health), or shops that sell a variety of items that help you such as climbing gloves, parachutes, jetpacks, sticky bomb paste, and more. You can even steal from a shop or try to kill the shopkeeper - but beware, they have shotguns and are VERY quick with their trigger finger. If you do manage to kill a shopkeeper, you'll incur the wrath of any more you find until you die and start over. You can even find sacrificial altars, where you can place any stunned character or even corpses to sacrifice them to Kali, netting you her favour which in turn can give you strange and wonderful rewards. If you're really devious, you can sacrifice the Damsels in distress instead of saving them. Accidentally destroy an altar with a bomb or rolling boulder trap, though, and you will incur Kali's wrath! This could be as simple as spawning spiders to kill you, or permanently attaching a ball-and-chain to your character, slowing your movement and dangling you from cliffs when you try to climb down them.

Gold can also be found in veins inside the cave walls... if you have bombs to spare.

If the random generation of levels and the sheer diversity of hazards due to the way they all interact isn't enough, you occasionally get "level feelings" which change the way a standard level will work. For example, some caves are dark, and you must use the crate of flares helpfully placed near the entrance to navigate through its treacherous depths. Others have their bottom levels completely flooded and filled with piranha, or contain long pit drops filled with snakes. One of my favourites is the Restless Dead level feeling, where the skeletal and zombified remains of previous adventurers rise from the dirt to kill you. Your protagonist will make a comment as you begin a level whenever a level feeling is in effect to indicate which one it is.

The game is split up into a variety of areas that all have their own unique graphical style and range of enemies, traps, and other hazards. The first area, for example, is your standard cave style with bats, arrow traps, spiders, webs, and rocks. If you make it to the second area, it seems more like a jungle with vines you can climb, long grass, a wider variety of deadly fauna (and flora!) and bodies of water that can be swam through (assuming you're willing to brave the piranhas).

Holy Spelunky monkey, Batman!

The best way to understand how the game works and fits together is to play it. Just keep in mind that you WILL die, and you will die OFTEN. This game wasn't inspired by Roguelike mechanics for nothing. The only way to know how not to die in this game is to die - to make mistakes and learn why they were mistakes, and learn how not to make them next time. This formula might sound punishing to some, but it is half the appeal of the game, as the highly possible chance of death around every corner makes every decision matter and every success more rewarding.

Spelunky is a brilliant game filled with old-school charm and incredibly rewarding gameplay, even when you lose. Considering that it is 100% free to play, there is no reason why you shouldn't give it a go.