The stolen ware left unequipped

Verified against the spelunky.ai port v0.1.12 on 28 October 2026.

Carrying a ware out of a shop unpaid angers the Shopkeeper and makes the ware the player's, and a piece of equipment, such as the Spike Shoes, goes on as if bought. But two pieces of code take the theft, the player's and the ware's, and only the player's puts it on. Whichever leaves the shop first decides it, so a ware carried out ahead of the player stays in his hands, unworn, until he picks it up again.

In a Rare Shop on level 5 that opens to the left, the player picks up the Spike Shoes, priced at $5,200, and heads left out of the shop with them, jumping as he leaves. The Shopkeeper turns on him and fires, but the shoes, out of the shop first, stay in his hands rather than going on ^[1].

Out of the shop, he puts the shoes down and picks them up again, which puts them on, and then stomps a Caveman with them ^[2].

The player's step takes a theft when he's outside the shop's room with a ware that still has a price: it runs scrStealItem, which puts a piece of equipment on, and angers the Shopkeeper ^[3]. The ware's own step takes a theft when the ware is outside the shop, and it only angers the Shopkeeper and makes the ware free:

    // stealing makes shopkeeper angry
    if (isRealLevel())
    {
        if (cost > 0 and forSale and not isInShop(x, y))
        {
            global.itemsStolen += 1;
            scrShopkeeperAnger(0);
            cost = 0;
        }

Once its cost is 0, the player's check no longer runs, so whichever is out first takes the theft. The ware is held 4 pixels ahead of the player ^[4], but it tests where the step before put it, while the player tests where he's just moved. Walking, at 3 pixels a step, it's out first only when a step leaves him 1 pixel short of the room's edge; otherwise both are out on the same step, and the player's step comes first, so the ware goes on. With the run key, faster than 4 pixels a step, the player is always out first, and jumping out upwards, he crosses first ^[5]. A free ware goes on when it's picked up ^[6].

Steal a piece of equipment by leaving the shop forwards so that it crosses the room's edge ahead of the player. It happens in normal play. The replay of the clips jumps out of a Rare Shop to the left with the Spike Shoes: the shoes leave the room a step before the player, so the Shopkeeper is angered (frame 1429) but the shoes stay in his hands. He puts them down (1463) and picks them up again, and they go on (1471) ^[7]. Running out on the ground with a Cape puts it on at once ^[8]. The Ankh is never for sale, so it's never left this way.

The spelunky.ai port reproduces it exactly: it's in docs/quirks.md's list of the 1.1 source's bugs ^[5], and the oracle's fingerprint of the replay pins the theft, the unworn shoes and when they go on. No option turns it off.