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. # Scoring 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 28 October 2026. Scoring in Spelunky Classic is by money: a game's score is the money the player has, and the high scores keep the best money, kills, saves and winning time. The game has no points. Treasure adds to the player's money and the shops take from it; the screen between levels counts what he made on the level, and the game over and ending screens show the money as the final score. The high scores room, reached by a door on the title screen, keeps the best of four records and three statistics, gives a trophy for each record, and opens a bonus room for each gold one[^1]. ## How it works ### Money Picking up treasure adds its value, more in later areas: a quarter of it again, rounded up, for each area after the Mines[^2] (the treasure's pages give each value, such as the [Gold Nugget](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-nugget)'s and the [Gold Bar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/gold-bar)'s). It's counted into the money shown at the top of the screen 100 a step, after a pause of 20 steps for each piece picked up (100 at most)[^3][^4], and what's left goes in at once when the player takes the exit[^5]. Buying in a shop ([General Store](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/general-store)) and donating to the [Tunnel Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tunnel-man) take from it. Winning adds $50,000 ([Endings](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/endings)). ### The clock The game's clock runs only in a level, while the player is alive and the game has started: it gains 30 each step[^6], and the screens show it in minutes and seconds of a thousand each[^7]. So a second on the clock is 33⅓ steps, about 1.11 seconds. It counts the level's time and the game's, and stops while the game is paused and between levels, as nothing steps then ([Controls](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/controls#pausing)). ### Between levels **Clip: Level completed.** The player leaves the first level, and the screen between levels tallies it: LEVEL 1 COMPLETED!, the time on the level and in all, the loot (a gold bar), the kills (four Snakes) and the money, $1700 of $1700. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/39b784c6a7dfc9d3/clips/scoring/level-tally/clip.mp4)) The screen between levels says LEVEL N COMPLETED! and tallies the level: its time and the game's, the loot, the kills, and the money made on the level and in all[^8]. The loot is an icon for each piece of treasure picked up, then each [Damsel](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/damsel) rescued, each [Scarab](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/scarab), [idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol) and [Crystal Skull](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/crystal-skull)[^9]; the kills an icon for each monster killed[^10]. Icons appear every 3 steps and the money counts up 100 a step; attack (or start) hurries both[^11][^12]. In the clip the player has picked up a gold bar and killed four Snakes on the first level[^13]. ### Game over When the player dies without an [Ankh](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ankh), the high scores are updated at once, and the game over screen counts his money up as the final score[^14][^15]. Attack or start then goes to the high scores room[^16]. ### The high scores The records are kept in GameMaker's high score table, with large offsets to keep them in order[^17]. They're updated at a death, at the end of a win's credits, and when a bonus room's game ends[^18]: | Record | Kept | | | ----------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ----- | | Money | The most | [^19] | | Kills | The most | [^20] | | Saves (Damsels rescued) | The most | [^21] | | Time | The least, from a win without a shortcut | [^22] | | Plays | +1 a game, not counting the bonus rooms | [^23] | | Wins, deaths | +1 a win, +1 a death | [^24] | | The Sun, Moon and Stars Rooms | Each one's best | [^25] | A record beaten in the last game has NEW beside it[^26]. Custom levels keep no score[^27]. ### The high scores room **Clip: Resetting the high scores.** The high scores room, with a gold trophy beside each record and the four doors they unlock. The player pushes a block along the floor; past the middle a warning reads THIS WILL CLEAR EVERYTHING!, and when the block covers the button at the end, the trophies and doors vanish, the screen shakes and every record reads 0. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/39b784c6a7dfc9d3/clips/scoring/reset/clip.mp4)) The room lists the money, kills and saves as TOP DEFILERS, with the best time once the game has been won, and the plays, deaths and wins as STATISTICS[^28]. Left of the records is a column of trophies, one for each record good enough ([Numbers](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/scoring#numbers)), and beside each gold trophy a door to its bonus room[^29]. Climbing up beside them, the board shows SECRET CHALLENGES: the bonus rooms' best scores, and each room's goal, or LOCKED[^30]. With all four gold trophies, the title screen has a trophy and a door in place of the [Tunnel Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tunnel-man)[^31]. A block on the room's floor resets everything. Pushed past the middle, it brings up THIS WILL CLEAR EVERYTHING\![^32]; pushed onto the button at the end, it takes the trophies and the doors away, and 18 steps later every record and statistic, and the Tunnel Man's shortcuts, go back to the start, and the room shakes[^33][^17]. The clip shows it with all four gold trophies[^34]. ## Numbers The trophies, by the record in the high scores: | Record | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Gold opens | | | ------------------------------------- | --------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------------- | ----- | | Money | $50,000 | $100,000 | $200,000 | The Sun Room | [^35] | | Time of a win, in the clock's seconds | Under 960 | 720 or less | 600 or less | The Moon Room | [^36] | | Kills | 80 | 100 | 120 | The Stars Room | [^37] | | Saves | 4 | 6 | 8 | The Changing Room | [^38] | ## Examples - The clips above tally the first level[^13] and reset the high scores[^34]. - A win updates the high scores at the end of the credits, with a time[^39]; a death, from the pause screen, at once[^40]. ## Quirks - **The Moon Room's goal shows for any winning time.** Climbing up beside the trophies, the room's description reads as unlocked when the best time is at most 600,000, while the time is kept in seconds, so any win's time unlocks it there[^41][^42]. Its door needs 600 seconds or less[^43][^44]. In the clip, with one win at 11:40, the Changing Room and the Stars Room read LOCKED., but the Moon Room's goal shows beside the silver trophy, with no door[^45][^46]. - **A time of exactly 960 seconds earns no trophy.** The check around the time's trophies is "under", the bronze one inside it "at most"[^47][^44]. A win at 16:00 leaves the trophy's place empty[^48]. - Not every kill counts: a [Damsel](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/damsel) killed on spikes or in lava isn't one[^44]. ## FAQ ### How is the score counted in Spelunky Classic? The score is the player's money. It goes up with the treasure he picks up and down with what he spends, and the game over and ending screens show it as the final score. A win adds $50,000 for the treasure the ending brings out. ### What do the trophies in Spelunky Classic's high scores room do? Each record earns a bronze, silver or gold trophy, and each gold one opens a door beside it: the Sun Room for $200,000, the Moon Room for a win in 600 seconds or less, the Stars Room for 120 kills and the Changing Room for 8 saves. ### How do you reset the high scores in Spelunky Classic? Push the block in the high scores room onto the button at the end of its floor. The records, the statistics, the trophies and the Tunnel Man's progress go back to the start. ### Why doesn't Spelunky Classic show a best time? The best time only shows once the game has been won, and a win only sets it if the player took no shortcut. ### Do custom levels count for the high scores in Spelunky Classic? No. The custom levels don't keep score: a death or a win there leaves the high scores as they were. ## Gallery **Clip: The Moon Room's goal for a slow win.** With one win timed at 11:40, the high scores room has the time's silver trophy but no Moon Room door. The player climbs the ledges beside the trophies: the Changing Room and the Stars Room read LOCKED, but beside the trophy the Moon Room's goal shows as if it were unlocked. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/39b784c6a7dfc9d3/clips/quirks/moon-room-goal-any-win/clip.mp4)) ## See also - **Related:** [Endings](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/endings), [Controls](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/controls), [Health](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/health) ## References [^1]: Replay `fidelity/replays/title-doors.txt` [^2]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1990-1997` [^3]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1953-1971` [^4]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1997-1998` [^5]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:862-865` [^6]: `objects/oGame/step.gml:14-21` [^7]: `objects/oTransition/draw.gml:91-116` [^8]: `objects/oTransition/draw.gml:74-126` [^9]: `objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml:23-113` [^10]: `objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml:114-275` [^11]: `objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml:286-291` [^12]: `objects/oTransition/step.gml:69-83` [^13]: Clip scoring/level-tally [^14]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1897-1915` [^15]: `objects/oGame/draw.gml:1-24` [^16]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:907-930` [^17]: `scripts/scrResetHighscores.gml:24-36` [^18]: `scripts/scrUpdateHighscores.gml:28-117` [^19]: `scripts/scrUpdateHighscores.gml:47-52` [^20]: `scripts/scrUpdateHighscores.gml:64-69` [^21]: `scripts/scrUpdateHighscores.gml:71-76` [^22]: `scripts/scrUpdateHighscores.gml:55-62` [^23]: `scripts/scrUpdateHighscores.gml:78-79` [^24]: `scripts/scrUpdateHighscores.gml:81-95` [^25]: `scripts/scrUpdateHighscores.gml:101-117` [^26]: `objects/oHighscores/create.gml:120-123` [^27]: `objects/oLoadLevel/create.gml:5` [^28]: `objects/oHighscores/draw.gml:119-148` [^29]: `objects/oHighscores/create.gml:32-102` [^30]: `objects/oHighscores/draw.gml:1-112` [^31]: `objects/oTitle/create.gml:54-62` [^32]: `objects/oHighscores/draw.gml:150-159` [^33]: `objects/oButtonHighscore/step.gml:1-32` [^34]: Clip scoring/reset [^35]: `objects/oHighscores/create.gml:32-48` [^36]: `objects/oHighscores/create.gml:50-66` [^37]: `objects/oHighscores/create.gml:68-84` [^38]: `objects/oHighscores/create.gml:86-102` [^39]: Replay `fidelity/replays/ending-seed-1.txt` [^40]: Replay `fidelity/replays/flow-pause-game-over-new-game.txt` [^41]: `objects/oHighscores/create.gml:16` [^42]: `objects/oHighscores/draw.gml:46` [^43]: `objects/oHighscores/create.gml:61-64` [^44]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^45]: Clip quirks/moon-room-goal-any-win [^46]: Replay `fidelity/replays/flow-highscores-moon-room-slow-win.txt` [^47]: `objects/oHighscores/create.gml:50-56` [^48]: Replay `fidelity/replays/flow-highscores-time-960-no-trophy.txt` ### Source code - `scripts/scrUpdateHighscores.gml` - `scripts/scrResetHighscores.gml` - `objects/oHighscores/create.gml` - `objects/oHighscores/draw.gml` - `objects/oButtonHighscore/step.gml` - `objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml` - `objects/oTransition/draw.gml` - `objects/oGame/step.gml`