Title screen

It's a room the player walks around in rather than a menu, two screens wide. The right screen, where the game starts, has the doors under their signs: TUTORIAL, START and SCORES, the last to the high scores room. At its right a rope hangs from the top under a QUIT sign. The left screen is the Shortcut House, where the Tunnel Man stands and his shortcuts' doors open once they're paid for. Nothing there can hurt the player.

Spelunky opens on its intro: three lines of a story, one at a time, each picked from eight at random, "AS THE MOON BURNED BRIGHT ABOVE," "I DISMOUNTED MY CAMEL," "AND THAT'S WHEN IT ALL STARTED." among them ^{[1] [2]}. The screen then fades in on the desert at night, and the Spelunker walks to a cave, bats flying out past him, throws a rope down and climbs down out of sight, which fades out to the title screen ^{[3] [4]}. Enter, Escape, attack or start skips the lines to the walk, and pressed during the walk, fades out to the title screen at once ^[5].

From the intro, the title screen opens dark. DEREK YU PRESENTS shows at the top for 100 steps ^{[6] [7] [8]}. Seventy steps later a flare drops from the top, lighting the cave as it falls, and 50 steps later the Spelunker climbs down the rope, drops to the floor and is the player, as the title music starts ^{[9] [10] [11] [12] [13]}. Enter, Escape, attack or start during the opening starts it over with the player already at the foot of the rope and the cave lit ^{[14] [15]}. In the clip, the opening plays through, and the player walks left into the SCORES door ^[16].

Coming back from somewhere else, the player is already there, lit, with the music on: at the SCORES door from the high scores room, at the tutorial door from the Tutorial ^{[17] [18]}.

The room editor placed the doors, the signs, the rope and the level 5 shortcut's door ^[22]. A game from START, or from the tutorial door through the Tutorial's exit, is one whose winning time counts for the high scores; one from a shortcut's door isn't (The shortcut win's 0:00) ^{[23] [24]}. On the game's very first run, the tutorial door and its sign are bricked over, and START leads to the Tutorial, once (Tutorial) ^{[25] [26]}. A hand then points at START, with PRESS UP TO ENTER! while the player stands at it, but only if the title screen started with him already there: the opening skipped, or back from the high scores room. After the whole opening there's none ^{[27] [28]}. The view follows the player between the two screens ^[29].

The player's hearts are set back to the start's on every step, so nothing can kill him there ^[30], and his bombs and ropes can't be used outside a level ^[31]. The room can be paused once he stands in it (Controls) ^[32].

With all four of the high scores' gold trophies, a gold trophy and a door take the Tunnel Man's place at the left end. Going through the door turns the player into the Tunnel Man, and through it again back (Tunnel Man) ^{[33] [34]}.

• Quitting. Climbing the rope to the top of the screen takes the player out of sight; the title fades out to the Credits, and the game quits after them ^{[35] [36] [37] [38]}. The clip shows it ^[39].
• The level editor. F2 opens the level editor, and F3 the menu of custom levels ^{[40] [41]}.

The Tunnel Man stands at the left end of the Shortcut House until the player can play as him ^[42]. Nothing else lives there.

The rope at the right is the room's only thing to use: climbing it to the top quits (Leaving) ^[22].

The Shortcut House, the left screen, is walled off until the Tunnel Man's first shortcut is paid for; then a ladder leads up to its doors, to levels 5, 9 and 13 as each is paid (Tunnel Man shortcuts) ^{[43] [44]}. In the clip, the player climbs the ladder and goes into the level 5 door ^[45].

• The title screen's code has the text V1.1 (C)2009, commented out, so the game shows no version (Versions) ^[46].
• Playing as the Damsel, the figure that climbs out of sight up the rope is the Spelunker (The Damsel leaving as the Spelunker) ^[47].