Spelunky is © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC, and is used under the [Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt). spelunky.ai is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Mossmouth. The game and its assets may not be sold. Music by George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry; sound effects made in SFXR. From Spelunky Classic 1.1, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC. # Altar From the spelunky.ai wiki: . *For the altar of sacrifice, see [Kali's Altar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/kalis-altar).* The Altar is terrain in Spelunky Classic, two carved stone blocks in the floor of the Mines' idol room, on which the Golden Idol lies. ![A block of grey carved stone with a vine curling over it](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/sprites/sAltarLeft/frames/0%404x.png) | Altar | | | ------------ | ------------------------------------------- | | Effect | Holds the Golden Idol; solid | | Destroyed by | Bombs, the Mattock, boulders | | Objects | `oAltarLeft`, `oAltarRight` | | Found in | [The Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines) | The Altar is the floor of [the Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines)' idol room: two blocks of carved, vine-grown stone set into its bottom row, with the [Golden Idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol) lying on them and a giant tiki head high above. It's where the idol is, nothing more: the altar has no code of its own beyond breaking. ## How it works **Clip: The idol's altar.** In the Mines, the player walks up to the Golden Idol, lying on its altar of two carved stone blocks in the floor under a giant tiki head, lifts it off and drops down a shaft with it. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/clips/altar/idol/clip.mp4)) The idol room's layout puts the altar's two blocks in the middle of its floor and the idol on top of them[^1][^2][^3]. The clip shows the room: the player walks up to the idol on its altar, under the giant tiki head, lifts it off and drops down a shaft with it[^4]. Lifting the idol is what sets off the room's trap, a [Boulder](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/boulder) from the tiki head ([Golden Idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol#collecting)). The altar's blocks are solid, and break like any block, to a [Bomb](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb), a [Mattock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mattock) or a rolling Boulder, into rubble[^5][^6]. ## Locations Only [the Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines) have the idol's altar: the idol room is one of the side rooms a Mines level may have, 1 time in 10 for each side room off the bottom row once the roll for [Kali's altar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/kalis-altar) fails[^7]. The idols of the other areas lie on other things: a floor of [trap blocks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/trap-block) in the Jungle, a ledge of [thin ice](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/thin-ice) in the Ice Caves, the floor between two doors in the Temple ([Golden Idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol#locations)). The [level editor](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/level-editor) has no tile for it. ## Trivia - The [Yeti lair](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-lair)'s room script, a copy of the Mines', still has the idol room's altar, which no lair is built with[^8][^9]. - The Mines' roll for treasure on top of a block skips blocks of the type "Altar", which only [Kali's altar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/kalis-altar) has; to it, the idol's altar is two ordinary blocks[^10]. ## FAQ ### Where is the altar with the idol in Spelunky Classic? In [the Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines)' idol room, a side room some levels have: the [Golden Idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol) lies on a two-block altar in its floor, under a giant tiki head. ### Does the idol's altar do anything in Spelunky Classic? No. It's two blocks with their own picture and nothing else but their rubble. Lifting the idol off it is what sets the room's trap off, and that's the idol's code, not the altar's. ### Is the idol's altar Kali's altar? No. [Kali's altar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/kalis-altar) is another pair of blocks, in a room of its own, where bodies are sacrificed for her favour. The idol's altar takes nothing. ## See also - **Related:** [Golden Idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol), [Boulder](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/boulder), [Kali's Altar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/kalis-altar) ## References [^1]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml:117`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen#L117) [^2]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml:358-362`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen#L358-L362) [^3]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml:374-377`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen#L374-L377) [^4]: Clip [altar/idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/altar#clip-altar-idol) [^5]: [`objects/oAltarLeft/destroy.gml:1-9`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oAltarLeft/destroy#L1-L9) [^6]: [`objects/oAltarRight/destroy.gml:1-9`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oAltarRight/destroy#L1-L9) [^7]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml:85-117`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen#L85-L117) [^8]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:332-336`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L332-L336) [^9]: [“The Yeti lair's room script is a copy of the Mines' and keeps code no lair reaches.”](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/blob/ebb9b804d076cb4e81ad3f239dc01016cc07c5cc/docs/quirks.md?plain=1#L165), [docs/quirks.md §1](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/blob/ebb9b804d076cb4e81ad3f239dc01016cc07c5cc/docs/quirks.md#1-bugs-and-leftovers-in-the-11-source) [^10]: [`scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:35-42`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrEntityGen#L35-L42) ### Source code - [`objects/oAltarLeft/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oAltarLeft/destroy) - [`objects/oAltarRight/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oAltarRight/destroy) - [`scripts/scrRoomGen.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen)