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. # Crystal Skull From the spelunky.ai wiki: . Verified against the spelunky.ai port [v0.1.10](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/releases/tag/v0.1.10) on 27 October 2026. *For the other idols, see [Golden Idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol); for the bone skull, see [Skull](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/skull).* The Crystal Skull is a treasure in Spelunky Classic found in the Jungle's graveyards, worth $30,000 carried out; lifting it brings the Ghost. ![A pale blue crystal skull](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/60545f62383bb75b/sprites/sCrystalSkull/frames/0%404x.png) | Crystal Skull | | | ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | Value | $15,000[^1] | | Object | `oCrystalSkull` | | Found in | [The Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle), Graveyard level | To the code it's a [Golden Idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol) with a value of its own, three times the Golden Idol's, so the player carries it to the exit to cash it in and a Shopkeeper buys it, as he does an idol. It takes the Golden Idol's place on the Jungle's graveyard levels, and its trap is the [Ghost](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ghost), which comes for the player the moment he lifts it. ## Value Its base value is $15,000, multiplied by the area's number, as an idol's is[^2][^3]. Level generation only makes one in [the Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle), where it's worth $30,000: | Area | Value | | --------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | [The Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines) | $15,000 | | [The Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle) | $30,000 | | [The Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves) | $45,000 | | [The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple) | $60,000 | ## Locations Each Jungle level has a 1 in 10 chance of being a graveyard level, the Restless Dead[^4]. On one, the Jungle's idol room (a 1 in 9 roll for two side rooms in three, once an altar's 1 in 12 fails, and one a level at most) holds the Crystal Skull instead of the Golden Idol[^5]. The room is a tomb of temple stone with a small chamber in it: the skull in the middle, and four piles of bones that rise as [Skeletons](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/skeleton) in the corners, the code's `if (rand(1,2))` choosing between bones and a [Jar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jar) for them, which is always true[^6][^7]. In custom levels, it's the level editor's `O` tile[^8]. ## Collecting **Clip: Crystal skull and the ghost.** On a Jungle graveyard level, the player picks up the crystal skull in its stone tomb, and skeletons rise from the bones around it. A ghost drifts in from the side of the screen, through the walls, and kills him on touch. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/60545f62383bb75b/clips/crystal-skull/ghost/clip.mp4)) It's heavy, carried and thrown as the Golden Idol is[^9]. Lifting it on a graveyard level, when no Ghost is on the level yet, brings one: it appears just past the edge of the screen, halfway down, on the right if the player is in the right half of the level and on the left if not[^10]. The Ghost drifts toward him through walls and kills him on touch whatever his hearts[^11][^12]. In the clip, the player lifts the skull, the Ghost drifts in from the right, and it kills him[^13][^14]. Carried to the level's exit, it's taken from his hands and its value added to his money, and the screen between levels shows a crystal skull among the loot[^3][^15]. Set down on a shop's floor near an idle Shopkeeper (the level's first), it's bought at its full value, as an idol is[^16]. ## Trivia - Its `type` is "Gold Idol", the Golden Idol's, which is how it gets every idol rule[^17]. The code that holds an idol at the player's height also names a "Crystal Skull" type, which nothing has[^18][^7]. - One sold to a Shopkeeper is counted among the level's golden idols, so the screen between levels shows a golden idol for it, where one carried to the exit shows as a crystal skull[^19][^20][^7]. Sold in Lazlo's Kissing Parlor, one shows as a golden idol on the screen after the level[^21]. ## FAQ ### How much is the Crystal Skull worth in Spelunky Classic? $30,000 in the Jungle, the only area level generation makes one in: its base value of $15,000, doubled for the Jungle, as a [Golden Idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol)'s is. ### Where is the Crystal Skull in Spelunky Classic? On a Jungle graveyard level, the Restless Dead, in the room that holds the Golden Idol on the Jungle's other levels: a stone tomb with four piles of bones. Not every graveyard level has that room. ### What happens when you pick up the Crystal Skull in Spelunky Classic? The [Ghost](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ghost) comes, from the side of the screen, unless one is already on the level. It drifts through walls toward the player and kills him on touch, however many hearts he has. ## See also - **Related:** [Golden Idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol), [Ghost](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ghost), [Skeleton](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/skeleton) ## References [^1]: `objects/oCrystalSkull/create.gml:4` [^2]: `objects/oCrystalSkull/create.gml:3-4` [^3]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:2068-2084` [^4]: `scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:147-148` [^5]: `scripts/scrRoomGen2.gml:79-114` [^6]: `scripts/scrRoomGen2.gml:490-494` [^7]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^8]: `scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:265-268` [^9]: `objects/oGoldIdol/create.gml:7` [^10]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1232-1239` [^11]: `objects/oGhost/step.gml:1-28` [^12]: `objects/oGhost/collision_oCharacter.gml:1-34` [^13]: Clip crystal-skull/ghost [^14]: Replay `fidelity/replays/item-seed-29-crystal-skull.txt` [^15]: `objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml:108-113` [^16]: `objects/oGoldIdol/step.gml:6-27` [^17]: `objects/oCrystalSkull/create.gml:3` [^18]: `objects/oItem/step.gml:46` [^19]: `objects/oGoldIdol/step.gml:19` [^20]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:2079-2080` [^21]: Replay `fidelity/replays/item-seed-213-crystal-skull-sold.txt` ### Source code - `objects/oCrystalSkull/create.gml` - `objects/oGoldIdol/create.gml` - `objects/oGoldIdol/step.gml` - `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml` - `scripts/scrRoomGen2.gml` - `scripts/scrInitLevel.gml`