Cape

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

Wearing it, the player can turn a fall into a slow glide: pressing jump in mid-air opens it, and he sinks a pixel a step and lands without harm, however far he's dropped. Clothing Shops, Rare Shops and the Dice House offer it; Crates, blocks, Vampires and Kali give it away. It's worn from the moment it's picked up or paid for until the game ends, unless a Jetpack takes its place.

Picking up a free cape, paying for one or carrying one out of a shop puts it on: the message "YOU GOT A CAPE!" shows, the cape disappears, and an icon of it joins the row under the hearts ^{[3] [4]}. From then on the player wears it on his back ^{[5] [6]}. It stays on until a new game starts, which clears it ^{[7] [8]}.

It opens and closes with the jump key. In the air, a press of jump opens it if it's closed and closes it if it's open ^[1], as long as the player didn't leave the ground with that press still held: walking off a ledge readies it at once, and after a jump it's ready once the jump key is let go of ^{[9] [10]}.

Open, it halves the player's falling speed each step ^[11], and the count of steps he's been falling starts again from 0 on every step, so the landing never hurts ^[12]. With gravity adding 1 pixel a step, he settles at 1 pixel a step (30 per second), against up to 10 in a free fall ^[13]. It closes again when he lands ^[14], climbs ^[15], hangs from a ledge ^[16] or goes into water ^[17]. The clip shows the player running out of a shop with the cape, which puts it on, and off the edge of a gap in the floor: one press of jump in mid-air opens it, and he sinks 1 pixel a step to the ledge below and lands with all his hearts ^[18].

A shop stocks one only if the level hasn't got one already ^{[26] [27]}, even for a player who wears one ^[28], and it adds 10% of the base price for each level past the second ^[29]. Shops are made from level 2 on ^[30], and level 16, Olmec's Lair, has none:

The Dice House puts its prize up from a set of rare items, and a roll of seven gives it away and puts up another ^{[31] [32]}. Every block of rock away from the level's edges that isn't gold and holds no gem has a 1 in 1200 chance of hiding an item, one of nineteen at random ^{[33] [23]}. A Vampire that dies leaves a cape, free to take, where it falls ^[34]. Kali's first gift, when the player's favour with her reaches 8 at one of her altars, is one of eight pieces of equipment the player hasn't got; the Cape counts as had while he wears a Jetpack ^[35]. In custom levels, it's the level editor's tile \ ^[36].

Carrying one out of a shop without paying puts it on and angers the Shopkeeper, as with any ware; whether it goes on at once depends on whether the player or the cape leaves the shop first ^[28]. In the clip, stealing it puts it on at once: the player runs out at 6 pixels a step, ahead of the cape he holds out in front of him ^[37].

• The Cape and the Jetpack are never worn together. Putting on the Cape while wearing a Jetpack drops the Jetpack at the player's feet, free to pick up again; putting on a Jetpack drops the Cape the same way ^{[38] [39]}.
• The Parachute slows a fall the same way, but opens by itself and only once ^[40].
• It does nothing closed: a long fall with the Cape closed hurts as it would without it ^[41].

• On any drop too deep to land from safely, a press of jump in the air opens the Cape and makes the landing safe; after a jump, the key has to be let go of first.
• Pressing jump again closes it, which drops the player at full speed: a way down faster when the ground is close.

• Its type is "Cape", and its shop message the plain "A CAPE FOR $12000." ^[42].
• The worn cape is drawn behind the player, hanging down while he stands, streaming behind him while he moves and spread above him while it's open; on the level's end screen, as he walks out, it's drawn from behind ^{[43] [44]}.