Health

Verified against the spelunky.ai port v0.1.10 on 28 October 2026.

The hearts are the first number in the row at the top of the screen. Everything that hurts the player takes some of them, from a Snake's bite to a Bomb's explosion (Damage and stun), and a few things give them back: a rescued Damsel, a kiss bought in the Kissing Parlor, the Kapala and Kali. There's no other way to heal, and no slow recovery over time.

The game keeps the player's hearts in one number, global.plife, which the HUD draws beside a heart icon, as 0 when it's below 0 ^[1].

Starting. A new game sets it to 4 hearts, or 2 hearts for the Tunnel Man ^[2]. On the title screen and the high scores screen it's set back to that on every step, so nothing there can kill the player ^[3]. A custom level from the level editor starts with the hearts its author set, from 1 to 99 ^[4], and each of the three bonus rooms, whose doors are on the high scores screen, with 8 hearts ^{[5] [6] [7]}.

The limit. At the start of each of the player's steps, hearts above 99 are cut back to 99, as bombs and ropes are ^[8].

Losing hearts. Monsters, traps, explosions and falls take hearts in their own amounts, and some stun the player or knock him back as well: Damage and stun has them all. Most monster touches only take hearts while he has some (if (global.plife > 0)), but the checks in his own step for explosions, lava, spikes and being crushed don't, so his hearts can go below 0 ^{[9] [10] [11]}.

Dying. On a level, or in a bonus room, his step checks for fewer than 1 heart while he's alive. If he wears the Ankh, it shatters and he comes back with 4 hearts at the level's entrance (or inside the Moai, on a level that has one, or at the start of Olmec's Lair), invincible for 60 steps. Otherwise his hearts are set to 0, the HUD is hidden, the high scores are updated and he's dead ^[12]. What can still hurt a dead body keeps taking hearts, lava 99 a step ^[13], and once they're below −99 the body bursts into blood and disappears ^[14].

Gaining hearts. Each source adds to the count, up to the limit:

• A rescued Damsel. Bringing one out of a level's exit, carried or walking, counts her ^{[15] [16]}. On the screen between levels, a Damsel then waits in the player's path: when he reaches her she kisses him and a heart rises ^{[17] [18] [19]}, and when that screen ends, skipped or not, he gets 1 heart ^[20]. The screen makes one kissing Damsel, so it's one heart however many were rescued on the level.
• A kiss in the Kissing Parlor. Paying its Damsel gives 1 heart and the message "NOW AIN'T SHE SWEET!" ("HE", playing as the Damsel) ^[21]. A kiss costs $10,000 on level 2, and $5,000 more for each level after ^[22].
• The Kapala. Every ninth drop of blood the player touches while wearing it gives 1 heart ^[23].
• Kali. One of her gifts, for a high enough favour, is 4–8 hearts at once, with the message "YOU FEEL INVIGORATED!" ^[24].

The clip shows a Damsel's heart. The player carries a Damsel out of level 1's exit; on the screen between levels she kisses him and a heart rises, and he starts level 2 with five hearts ^[35].

• Not every hit that leaves the player without hearts counts in the end-of-game statistics' deaths table: Damage and stun has which.