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. # Tunnel Man shortcuts 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. This page describes a secret. Tunnel Man shortcuts in Spelunky Classic are doors above the title screen to levels 5, 9 and 13, each dug by the Tunnel Man once donations have paid for it. There are three shortcuts, and the [Tunnel Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tunnel-man) digs them in turn: to the [Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle)'s level 5, the [Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves)' level 9 and the [Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple)'s level 13. He asks for each one's price in the screen between levels at the end of the area before it, a donation at a time, and remembers what he's owed from game to game. A paid shortcut is a door in the Shortcut House, a gallery above the title screen, that starts a new game on its level. ## How it works ### What he's owed The game keeps two sums the Tunnel Man is still owed, in two entries of the high score table, `TUNNEL1` and `TUNNEL2`: it reads them when it starts, and writes them back with the scores when a game ends in a death or a win[^1][^2][^3][^4]. They decide which shortcut he's digging and where he waits[^5]: 1. **The level 5 shortcut.** A new table owes $1 more than its price, and $1 more than the level 9 one's too[^6]. While it's owed, he waits in the screen after level 4, the last of [the Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines). 2. **The level 9 shortcut**, once the first is paid: he waits in the screen after level 8. 3. **The level 13 shortcut.** Paying off the level 9 one sets what's owed on this one to $1 more than its price[^7]. He waits in the screen after level 12. Once all three are paid, he waits nowhere. In each screen, he only appears once the sum is down to the price: the first time it's reached, the game takes the extra $1 off and shows no Tunnel Man, so he's there from the next visit on[^5][^8]. ### Donating He stops the player who walks up to him, introduces himself and asks for what he's still owed, and the screen can't be skipped until he's had an answer[^9]. Each press of up adds $100 to the donation and each press of down takes it off[^10]. Held for 20 steps, either key changes it by $100 a step, and after 100 steps by $1,000 a step. It never goes above the player's money or what's owed, nor below $0[^11]. The action key gives it: the money is taken off the player's at once, and off what's owed[^12]. His answers are on [his page](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tunnel-man#behaviour). ### The Shortcut House The Shortcut House is a gallery above the title screen's doors, which greets the player with "WELCOME TO THE SHORTCUT HOUSE!"[^13]. Until the level 5 shortcut is paid, two bricks wall it off and no ladder leads up[^14][^15]. Then a ladder leads up to it, and its doors are: | Door | There once | | | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | | Level 5, the [Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle) | The level 5 shortcut is paid (the room editor placed it, behind the wall) | [^16][^17] | | Level 9, the [Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves) | The level 9 shortcut is paid | [^18] | | Level 13, the [Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple) | All three are paid | [^19] | The Tunnel Man himself stands at the house's left end, until the player earns the door that switches to him ([Tunnel Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tunnel-man#playing-as-him))[^20]. ### The level editor The same sums decide what the [level editor](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/level-editor) offers: it starts with the Mines' tiles, and each paid shortcut adds its area's blocks, monsters and traps, the Jungle's with the level 5 shortcut, the Ice Caves' with level 9's and the Temple's with level 13's[^21][^22][^23][^24] ([Level editor](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/level-editor#placing-tiles)). ### A shortcut game Going through a door starts a new game on its level[^25]. It starts with what any game does, 4 hearts, 4 bombs, 4 ropes and no money (fewer as the Tunnel Man)[^26], and differs from one started at the START door in a few ways: - **No best time.** It's marked as a shortcut game, and a win so marked doesn't set the best time; its money, kills and saves count as any game's ([Scoring](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/scoring#the-high-scores), [Speedrunning basics](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/speedrunning-basics))[^27]. The START door clears the mark[^28]. - **Its first level is never dark or flooded.** As the first level after the title screen, it's never a [dark level](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/dark-level)[^8], and level 5 is never a [flooded level](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/flooded-level), which only the screen between levels rolls for[^29]. - **The levels it skips make nothing.** Some things are made once a game on a few early levels ([Level generation](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/level-generation#once-a-game)). From level 5, the game has no [Udjat Eye](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/udjat-eye), whose chest is on level 2, 3 or 4; from level 9, no [Black Market](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/black-market) either, whose door is on level 5, 6 or 7[^30]. From level 13, it has no [Moai](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/moai), the only place the [Hedjet](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hedjet) is[^31], and without the Hedjet the gold door doesn't open to the [Sceptre](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/sceptre): no [City of Gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/city-of-gold)[^32][^33]. [Reaching the City of Gold](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/city-of-gold-route) has the rest. ## Numbers | Value | Amount | | | ----------------------------- | ------------- | ---------- | | The level 5 shortcut | $100,000 | [^34] | | The level 9 shortcut | $200,000 | [^35] | | The level 13 shortcut | $300,000 | [^36] | | Owed above the price at first | $1 | [^37][^38] | | A press of up or down | $100 | | | Held for 20 steps | $100 a step | | | Held for 100 steps | $1,000 a step | | ## Examples **Clip: Tunnel Man's shortcut.** Between the Mines and the Jungle, the player walks up to the Tunnel Man, who introduces himself and asks for $100,000 for a new shortcut. The player holds up to raise the donation to $4,100 and gives it; the Tunnel Man thanks him. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/1d3f433106e37ef1/clips/tunnel-man/donate/clip.mp4)) - **A donation.** Between the Mines and the Jungle, the Tunnel Man asks for the level 5 shortcut's $100,000; the player holds up, the donation climbs to $4,100, and he gives it, leaving $95,900 owed[^39]. - **A shortcut paid off.** Between the Jungle and the Ice Caves, the player gives the last $500 of the level 9 shortcut, and the level 13 one starts at its price and $1[^40]. The last $500 of the level 13 one, given after level 12, pays them all off[^41]. **Clip: Tunnel Man paid off.** Between the Jungle and the Ice Caves, the Tunnel Man asks for the last $500 of the level 9 shortcut. The player gives it, and the shortcut is paid off. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/1d3f433106e37ef1/clips/tunnel-man/paid/clip.mp4)) - **The first visit.** With a new table, the screen after level 4 takes the level 5 shortcut from $100,001 owed to $100,000 and shows no Tunnel Man[^42]. - **The doors.** With all three paid, the player climbs to the Shortcut House and takes the level 5 door[^43], the level 9 door[^44] or the level 13 door[^45], and a game starts on that level. **Clip: The level 5 shortcut.** With the shortcuts built, the player climbs the ladder from the title screen to the Shortcut House, where doors lead to levels 5, 9 and 13, and enters the level 5 door. The first Jungle level loads, with Cavemen and vines. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/1d3f433106e37ef1/clips/jungle/shortcut/clip.mp4)) **Clip: The level 9 shortcut.** With every shortcut paid for, the player climbs the ladder from the title screen to the Shortcut House, jumps off it, runs past the level 13 door and enters the level 9 door. The first level of the Ice Caves loads. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/1d3f433106e37ef1/clips/tunnel-man-shortcuts/level-9/clip.mp4)) **Clip: The level 13 shortcut.** The player climbs from the title screen to the Shortcut House and enters its level 13 door. In the first Temple level, a Tomb Lord walks off a ledge into a pool of lava and dies. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/1d3f433106e37ef1/clips/temple/shortcut/clip.mp4)) ## Quirks - **He skips his first visit.** Each shortcut is first owed $1 more than its price, which the screen where he'd wait takes off instead of showing him[^8][^46]. - **Up raises the donation before he asks.** A press of up adds to it while the player walks up to him and while he introduces himself, so his request can start above $0[^8]. - **No dark level to start.** A shortcut game's first level is never dark, as no game's first level is[^8]. ## FAQ ### How do you unlock the shortcuts in Spelunky Classic? By paying the [Tunnel Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tunnel-man), who waits in the screen between levels at the end of an area: after level 4 for the level 5 shortcut, then after level 8 for level 9's, then after level 12 for level 13's. Donations add up over as many games as it takes, and each paid shortcut becomes a door in the Shortcut House above the title screen. ### How much do the shortcuts cost in Spelunky Classic? $100,000 for level 5, $200,000 for level 9 and $300,000 for level 13: $600,000 in all, given in donations as large or small as the player likes. ### Does a shortcut game count for the best time in Spelunky Classic? No. A game started from a shortcut is marked as one, and a win marked so never sets the best time. Its money, kills and saves still count. ### Can you reach the City of Gold from the level 13 shortcut in Spelunky Classic? No. The gold door only opens to the Sceptre with the [Hedjet](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hedjet) worn, and the Hedjet is only in the Moai, on an Ice Caves level, which a game started at level 13 never has. ### Why doesn't the Tunnel Man show up in Spelunky Classic? He skips his first visit to each screen he waits in: it only takes $1 off what he's owed, and he appears the next time. He also waits only at the screen of the shortcut he's digging, and nowhere once all three are paid. ## See also - **Related:** [Tunnel Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tunnel-man), [The Jungle](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jungle), [The Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves), [The Temple](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/temple), [Scoring](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/scoring), [Level generation](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/level-generation), [Speedrunning basics](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/speedrunning-basics), [Level editor](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/level-editor) ## References [^1]: [`objects/oGlobals/create.gml:34-39`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oGlobals/create#L34-L39) [^2]: [`scripts/scrUpdateHighscores.gml:97-99`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrUpdateHighscores#L97-L99) [^3]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1914-1915`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L1914-L1915) [^4]: [`objects/oCredits2/step.gml:50`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oCredits2/step#L50) [^5]: [`objects/oTransition/create.gml:47-61`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTransition/create#L47-L61) [^6]: [`scripts/scrResetHighscores.gml:32-36`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrResetHighscores#L32-L36) [^7]: [`objects/oTunnelMan/step.gml:18-33`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTunnelMan/step#L18-L33) [^8]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^9]: [`objects/oTransition/step.gml:1-11`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTransition/step#L1-L11) [^10]: [`objects/oTransition/step.gml:35-67`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTransition/step#L35-L67) [^11]: [`objects/oTunnelMan/step.gml:43-83`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTunnelMan/step#L43-L83) [^12]: [`objects/oTunnelMan/step.gml:1-41`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTunnelMan/step#L1-L41) [^13]: [`objects/oTitle/draw.gml:17-29`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTitle/draw#L17-L29) [^14]: [`objects/oTitle/create.gml:48-52`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTitle/create#L48-L52) [^15]: Replay `fidelity/replays/title-locked.txt` [^16]: `rTitle`, as the room editor placed it [^17]: [`objects/oTitle/create.gml:27-35`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTitle/create#L27-L35) [^18]: [`objects/oTitle/create.gml:37-40`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTitle/create#L37-L40) [^19]: [`objects/oTitle/create.gml:41-45`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTitle/create#L41-L45) [^20]: [`objects/oTitle/create.gml:54-62`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTitle/create#L54-L62) [^21]: [`objects/oLevelEditor/keypress_1.gml:5-8`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oLevelEditor/keypress_1#L5-L8) [^22]: [`objects/oLevelEditor/keypress_2.gml:5-8`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oLevelEditor/keypress_2#L5-L8) [^23]: [`objects/oLevelEditor/keypress_3.gml:5-8`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oLevelEditor/keypress_3#L5-L8) [^24]: [`objects/oLevelEditor/create.gml:42-45`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oLevelEditor/create#L42-L45) [^25]: [`objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end.gml:137-157`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end#L137-L157) [^26]: [`scripts/scrClearGlobals.gml:103-118`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrClearGlobals#L103-L118) [^27]: [`scripts/scrUpdateHighscores.gml:46-76`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrUpdateHighscores#L46-L76) [^28]: [`objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end.gml:72-74`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end#L72-L74) [^29]: [`objects/oTransition/step.gml:17-24`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTransition/step#L17-L24) [^30]: [`scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:178-192`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrInitLevel#L178-L192) [^31]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen3.gml:498`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen3#L498) [^32]: [`scripts/scrLevelGen.gml:212-221`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrLevelGen#L212-L221) [^33]: [`objects/oGoldDoor/collision_oSceptre.gml:1-22`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oGoldDoor/collision_oSceptre#L1-L22) [^34]: [`objects/oGlobals/create.gml:35`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oGlobals/create#L35) [^35]: [`objects/oGlobals/create.gml:36`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oGlobals/create#L36) [^36]: [`objects/oGlobals/create.gml:37`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oGlobals/create#L37) [^37]: [`scripts/scrResetHighscores.gml:32-33`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrResetHighscores#L32-L33) [^38]: [`objects/oTunnelMan/step.gml:24`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTunnelMan/step#L24) [^39]: Clip tunnel-man/donate [^40]: Clip tunnel-man/paid [^41]: Replay `fidelity/replays/tunnelman-seed-9-ice-paid.txt` [^42]: Replay `fidelity/replays/tunnelman-seed-2-mines-over-max.txt` [^43]: Clip jungle/shortcut [^44]: Clip tunnel-man-shortcuts/level-9 [^45]: Clip temple/shortcut [^46]: Replay `fidelity/replays/tunnelman-seed-9-jungle-over-max.txt` ### Source code - [`objects/oGlobals/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oGlobals/create) - [`objects/oTransition/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTransition/create) - [`objects/oTransition/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTransition/step) - [`objects/oTunnelMan/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTunnelMan/step) - [`objects/oTitle/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oTitle/create) - [`objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/other_animation_end) - [`scripts/scrResetHighscores.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrResetHighscores) - [`scripts/scrUpdateHighscores.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrUpdateHighscores)