Spelunking Game Design

11 Nov 2009 at 00:00:00 by Tim McDonald

Spelunky, the game that continues to claim more of my lunch hour than even throwing bricks at Andy, takes a few of the ingredients for a traditional Roguelike formula (randomised dungeons, ludicrous difficulty, abundant secrets, perma-death) and puts them into the disarming guise of a side-scrolling platformer. Our hero, an Indiana Jones-alike complete with hat and whip and big red nose, is exploring a set of deep, dark caves in search of fabulous treasure.

For some inexplicable reason, these caves are also full of enemies. While in the first few levels you've pretty much only got snakes, spiders, and bats to worry about, things ramp up considerably with the inclusion of piranha, yetis, cavemen, and far, far more that I won't spoil. As Rudolph the Red-Nosed Indy begins the game with a meagre four hearts which can only be replenished by either saving damsels dotted around the levels or paying for more health, and death returns you to the very beginning of the game, you're constantly at risk of being returned to the title screen in ignominious defeat.

The wonder of Spelunky, though, is in your tools and the ways in which you can use them to get through the randomised levels. Giant spider in your way to the right? Drop a bomb further to the left and blast through the floor. Need to get up high because you've just spotted a chest? Lob a rope up there and climb up. While these are the only tools you begin with, you can acquire more – from parachutes to teleporters – from around the levels, or from shops. You've got a limited toolset at any given time, but with a wide array of possible results.

Shops present a further challenge. You can wander in and purchase an item, sure – if you have the money. If you don't, then you can attempt to steal it. If there's something amazing on sale then it might be worth the risk, which comes in the form of an angry, nigh-invulnerable shopkeeper charging after you with a ludicrously powerful shotgun. If you manage to murder him or escape, then your troubles are far from over, as shopkeepers use their hive-mind to place wanted posters with your face on them around the levels. An angry shopkeeper will be waiting for you at each level exit. All shopkeepers, in future, will try to kill you. Those climbing gloves might make a difficult ascent a lot easier, but can you cope with the consequences?

As such, no game plays out similarly to the last. Random dungeon designs mean that you might not find a shop anywhere in the first area. The second level might be a Dark level, which is pitch-black and needs to be carefully explored with flares. Getting up to the dreaded yetis with a fall-breaking cape, a bow and arrow, and sticky bombs will guide you into entirely different strategies than coming into the area with nothing but your whip, ropes, and bombs. Slipping off a ledge and falling into a spike-pit at this juncture will lead to self-loathing, but an overwhelming urge to try again – not least because actually completing Spelunky, if you're good enough to do it, will likely take around half an hour.

There are plenty of games that attempt randomisation but there are few that do it so well, and it's down to the simple fact that randomisation isn't the key. It's randomisation within a sandbox, with extremely harsh consequences. Your goal is the level exit and the obstacles change, but all of them can be surmounted differently depending on what has come before. Your decisions matter. Doing something may save you now but it may screw you in the future. Risk and reward, choice and consequence. We'll look at the way a lack of savegames can ratchet up tension and enjoyment and how it's handled another time, but here it's elegantly balanced with the short game-time and randomisation to wonderful effect.

Borderlands gives us limitless guns with amusing and hilarious effects. Diablo throws infinite loot in our path, teasing us with what's around the corner. World of Warcraft has mastered showing us what we can get if we play for just a little longer. Uncharted 2 places another jaw-dropping set-piece in front of us right as we're about to give up. Yet, next to all of these big-budget titles, Spelunky manages to be compelling and just as wonderful by perfecting one very, very simple game mechanic and creating an entire game around it.

God help us all if developer Derek Yu ever gets hold of a big budget. My lunch hours would be doomed.

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