There aren’t any! Ha! Thanks for the click, suckers! Wait no, come back – we actually do have some tips for Spelunky 2! Look, you’re going to die in this game, and you’re going to die a lot. There’s no avoiding it now, there was no avoiding it in the first Spelunky, and that’s just the long and short of it. However, if you do eventually want to come out on the other side of this game, there are some things you can keep in mind to help you out. So, we’ve compiled a bit of a beginner’s guide for Spelunky 2, some pseudo-survival tips that will help equip you for the dangers ahead. But only so much.
Spelunky 2 Beginner’s Guide
Spelunky 2, the sequel to one of the biggest and most popular (especially with the games writing crowd, natch) indie games ever made. It was one of the earlier roguelike-style games made over here in the west that really caught on with a wider audience, thanks to its goofy sense of humor and dense, but simple gameplay. The sequel is a lot more of what made Spelunky great, and is plenty accessible if you missed the first game. So without further anecdotes, here are some helpful tips.
First of all, be prepared to die and die often. In fact, sometimes you’ll need to die on purpose. The best way to learn Spelunky is to be killed by Spelunky. We don’t just mean that in a brute force, trial and error sense. Spelunky likes to trip you up unexpectedly with traps, sneaky enemies, strange item interactions, and more. A big part of being successful in Spelunky is learning what various parts of the game do, and sometimes that means just sauntering up to a statue, knowing it’s going to kill you. That way, you know what to look out for next time.
Related: Spelunky 2 Shows off Online Multiplayer and More in New Trailer
In a similar vein, you’ll also really want to focus on space in Spelunky. No, not outer space, the physical space you occupy and affect while playing the game. Everything in the game has specific properties, even when a bunch of stuff is interacting and exploding all over the place. From your basic whip, to various weapons, to enemy behavior, learning how things connect to each other physically is important. You’ll be judging distance a lot in particular, with examples being knowing where to place bombs without screwing yourself over, and judging where you need to be to use your whip effectively.
Always Be Carrying! ABC is a cardinal rule of Spelunky, perhaps even more so in Spelunky 2 due to how many more things there are. There’s a lot of stuff you can carry around in this game, and a lot of times just wandering around while you’re holding something is a crucial barrier against death. You can also throw stuff around to trigger traps, which is especially helpful for those arrow traps you need to get by. If you don’t get dunked by an arrow, you can even pick up the broken leftovers and use those.
The pet you choose is important, but so are turkeys! These two animals in particular are going to do a lot for you throughout the game if you don’t accidentally kill them. You can tame turkeys and ride them around like Yoshi, including the infamous sacrificial jump boost. If you bring your pet to the end of a stage alive, they’ll also heal you between levels, which is a super rare resource. You can even overheal in some situations!
Finally, Spelunky 2 also offers a shortcut system that can help you actually progress in the game despite how often you’re going to die. Once you get to certain points, you’ll meet a character who can build you a shortcut. In order to do so you’ll have to get through an area multiple times, and meet certain conditions such as a gold amount or having a specific item on hand. But once you get it built, you can skip straight to the next part when you start a new run.
Spelunky 2 is an incredibly dense game with tons of factors and unpredictable variables that will ultimately make the game a huge challenge no matter how prepared you are. But with these tips in mind, you’ll at least be able to shape your expectations a little, and know some of what to look out for. Saying too much would also spoil some of the experience, so we won’t lay out all the surprises you can run into even if they’re helpful.
- PS5 Showcase Set For September 16
- The Witcher 3 Is Coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X
- Prima Game of the Week | Dead Cells
Are you enjoying Spelunky 2 as a newcomer to the series? Or are you a seasoned veteran of the first game diving in for more of that action-adventure thrill seeking? Let us know what you think of this exciting and deadly new game over at the Prima Games Facebook and Twitter channels!
