Ball and Chain

Verified against the spelunky.ai port v0.1.10 on 27 October 2026.

This page describes a secret.

Kali punishes each altar destroyed in a game, and the second punishment is this: a ball chained to the player's ankle, which stays with him on every level until the game ends. He can drag it across the ground, but not climb away from it, so tall climbs, ropes and deep drops are cut short. He can pick it up and carry it, though, as he would a Crate.

Destroying one of Kali's altars angers her: the first time in a game, spiders come down; the second time, the ball and four links of chain appear at the player; the third time and after, the level goes dark and a Ghost comes, or, if the level is dark with a Ghost already, more spiders do ^{[2] [3]}. From the second on, every new level chains a new ball to him as it starts, and the walking figure between levels drags one too ^{[4] [5]}, until a new game starts ^[6]. In the clip, a bomb destroys a second altar; the ball appears, and the player drags it down to the exit; between levels, he still has it, and on the next level, a new one ^[7].

The chain holds him within 24 pixels of the ball. Farther than that, his own movement stops him: walking away from it, he can't; falling with the ball above him, he stops and swings toward under it; rising with it below him, he stops ^[1]. The ball, farther than that from him, follows: it's dragged along at his speed when he walks away from it and it's level with him or lower, and otherwise it's set rolling toward him ^[8]. The four links are drawn evenly between the ball and the player ^[9].

The ball is a heavy item: crouching over it and pressing the attack key picks it up, and while he holds it, it's where he is and can't hold him back. Setting it down, throwing it or taking an exit leaves it on the ground again ^{[10] [11] [3]}.

• Teleporter. A teleport takes the ball and chain with him ^[12].
• The Ankh. Coming back to life with it puts the ball and chain where he is ^[13].
• Pits. A ball at the bottom of a pit keeps him in it, as he can't climb more than 24 pixels above it, unless he picks it up and carries it out ^[3].

• Carrying the ball frees the player to climb, jump and use ropes as usual, for as long as he holds it.
• A third destroyed altar doesn't take the ball away; it adds Kali's next punishment.

• The walking figure between levels has a ball and chain of its own, which follow it instead ^{[14] [15]}.
• The ball's own gravity, 1, lasts one step: the code all items share sets it back to the usual 0.6 on the next ^{[16] [17]}.