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. # Yeti Lair 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. A Yeti lair is a special level of Spelunky Classic, on some Ice Caves levels after the Moai's: caves of ice with more Spikes, where the Yeti King lives. ![The Yeti King, a big white ape with a blue face, seen from the front](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/583f7aa191eace98/sprites/sYetiKingDisp/frames/0%404x.png) | Yeti Lair | | | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Levels | 10–12[^1] | | Chance | 1 in 6 for each Ice Caves level after the Moai's, once the mothership's 1 in 10 fails[^2] | | Part of | [The Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves)[^3] | A Yeti lair is built by a room script of its own, with floors and ceilings where the rest of [the Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves) are platforms in the open, and nearly all of its blocks are ice. Level generation makes the [Yeti King](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-king) nowhere else: it waits in a room of its own with four [Yetis](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti). There are more [Spikes](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spikes) and thin ice than in the Ice Caves' other levels, and fewer [UFOs](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ufo), and the level starts with the message "IT SMELLS LIKE WET FUR IN HERE!" ## Generation An Ice Caves level after the [Moai](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/moai)'s that isn't the [Mothership](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mothership)'s is a Yeti lair one time in 6[^4][^5]. The lair's roll is the last branch of the Moai's, which every Ice Caves level takes until the Moai is made, so a level before the Moai's, or the Moai's own, is never a lair, and lairs only come on levels 10, 11 and 12[^6]. It starts with "IT SMELLS LIKE WET FUR IN HERE!"[^7][^8]. Like the rest of the Ice Caves, it's never dark[^9]. **Clip: Arriving in a Yeti lair.** A Yeti lair loads, its blocks nearly all ice, with the message "IT SMELLS LIKE WET FUR IN HERE!" The player runs right from the entrance and drops into the Yeti King's room, where he whips a Yeti and the Yeti King starts to yell. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/583f7aa191eace98/clips/yeti-lair/arrival/clip.mp4)) In the clip, a lair loads with its message, and the player runs right from the entrance and drops into the Yeti King's room, where he whips a Yeti and the Yeti King starts to yell[^10]. The level is laid out as [the Mines'](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines#generation) are, four rooms by four on a path from the top row to the bottom, but its rooms come from the lair's own script rather than the Ice Caves'[^3]. Most of its layouts have a floor of blocks along the bottom, and some a ceiling, where the Ice Caves' other layouts are mostly platforms in open air[^11]. Five blocks in six are ice and one in six the area's dark rock, where the Ice Caves' other levels have one block of ice in ten[^12][^13]. | Rooms | Layouts | | | --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----- | | The side rooms off the path (3 in 4 of them) | Platforms high up; in the bottom row, one time in 2, a box of rock walls closed by thin ice above Spikes instead. Never Kali's altar or the [Golden Idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol)'s room | [^14] | | Rooms the path crosses sideways, and the other side rooms | Nine: six open rooms with a floor, one with a low ceiling and two of thin ice; or the Yeti King's | [^15] | | Rooms the path drops into | Nine, with a floor, some of them Spikes or thin ice | [^16] | | Rooms the path drops from | Twelve, with a gap in the floor | [^17] | ### The Yeti King's room Until the Yeti King has been placed, each room of the second kind is its room with a chance that grows with the row. Every one rolls 1 in 10; in the second row, a 1 in 3 roll follows when that fails, and in the third a 1 in 2 roll and then the 1 in 3; in the bottom row it's certain[^18]. So a lair has one Yeti King at most. It has none if every such room above the bottom row fails its rolls and every room of the bottom row is the exit's, the one the path drops into, or a side room. Its room has a ceiling of ice, some of its blocks left out at random, over an open hall where the Yeti King stands with two Yetis on each side of it[^19][^20]. ## Inhabitants | Monster | Where | Chance | | | -------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | | [Yeti King](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-king) | Its room (above) | One at most | [^18] | | [Yeti](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti) | Four beside the Yeti King | With it | [^19] | | [Yeti](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti) | On a block more than 64 pixels from the entrance | 1 in 20, once the roll for a [Spring Trap](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spring-trap) fails, as in the Ice Caves | [^21] | | [UFO](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ufo) | On a block without two open tiles below it, outside the entrance's room | 1 in 90, where the Ice Caves' other levels have 1 in 30 | [^22] | | Frozen [Caveman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/caveman) | Inside a block of ice, freed stunned when it breaks | 1 in 80 for each block of ice | [^23][^24] | With most of its blocks ice, a lair has more frozen Cavemen than the Ice Caves' other levels. Its shops have their [Shopkeepers](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/shopkeeper), and the [Ghost](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ghost) comes to a player who stays too long, as on every level[^25]. ## Hazards - **[Spikes](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spikes).** The Ice Caves' other levels have Spikes only under the Golden Idol's ledge. The lair has rows of them in the bottom row's box side room and under some layouts' thin ice, a floor of them in one of the rooms the path drops into, and some on the ground of the outcrops that other layouts add, each such tile one time in 3[^26][^27][^28][^29][^30][^31]. - **Thin ice**, which melts under the player in 30 steps (1 second), as in the rest of the Ice Caves. One of the layouts of the path's rooms has a floor of nothing else[^32][^33][^34]. - **[Spring Traps](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spring-trap)**, fewer than elsewhere: generation puts them only on dark rock without a vein of gold, and dark rock is one block in six here[^35][^36]. - **The Yeti King**, whose touch takes 2 hearts and whose yell shakes blocks of ice loose from the floor ([its page](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-king)). In the clip below, it yells at the crouching player, then his walk into it costs him 2 hearts[^37]. **Clip: Yeti King swat.** In a Yeti lair, the Yeti King yells at the crouching player, shaking blocks of ice loose from the floor beside it, then he walks into it. Its touch costs him 2 hearts, 4 to 2, and knocks him away from it, blinking. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/583f7aa191eace98/clips/yeti-king/swat/clip.mp4)) ## Items and shops Shops come as on [any Ice Caves level](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves#items-and-shops), in a side room beside the path, on a floor of smooth dark blocks[^38][^39]. Treasure is scattered over the blocks as in [the Mines](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mines#treasure)[^40]. The dark rock hides gems, [Big Sapphires](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/big-sapphire) most often, and items as the Ice Caves' does, but the ice hides none: its roll for an item is commented out, and the frozen Caveman is all it can hold[^41][^42]. A lair has no Golden Idol and no Kali's altar (above). ## Trivia - The lair's room script is a copy of the Mines', and keeps the Mines' code for things no lair has: the [snake pit](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/snake-pit)'s rooms, with Snakes and [Big Rubies](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/big-ruby), the idol room's altar, Golden Idol and giant tiki head, chests and ladders[^43][^44][^45]. Its idol room's layout is commented out, and the line that marks the idol as made follows a roll that can only give 1[^46]. - The Ice Caves' own room script has a tile for a Yeti that none of its layouts uses; the lair's Yetis and the Ice Caves' come from the lair's script and level generation[^47][^6]. ## FAQ ### How do you find a Yeti lair in Spelunky Classic? By chance: an [Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves) level after the one with the [Moai](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/moai) is a Yeti lair one time in 6, once its roll for the [Mothership](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mothership) (1 in 10) has failed, so only levels 10 to 12 can be one. It starts with the message "IT SMELLS LIKE WET FUR IN HERE!" ### Where is the Yeti King in Spelunky Classic? Only in a Yeti lair, in a room of its own under a ceiling of ice, with four [Yetis](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti) beside it. A lair has one at most, and the lower the room, the likelier it is to be the Yeti King's. ### Is there a Kali's altar in a Yeti lair in Spelunky Classic? No. The lair's side rooms have only two layouts, neither of them Kali's altar or the [Golden Idol](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/golden-idol)'s room, so a lair has neither. ### Why are there so few UFOs in a Yeti lair in Spelunky Classic? Level generation gives each block of a lair a 1 in 90 chance of a [UFO](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ufo), where the rest of the Ice Caves have 1 in 30. ## See also - **Related:** [Moai](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/moai), [Mothership](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mothership) - **Found here:** [Damsel](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/damsel), [Shopkeeper](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/shopkeeper), [Spikes](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spikes), [Yeti](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti), [Yeti King](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-king) ## References [^1]: [`scripts/scrLevelGen.gml:212-237`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrLevelGen#L212-L237) [^2]: [`scripts/scrLevelGen.gml:222-237`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrLevelGen#L222-L237) [^3]: [`scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:158-162`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrInitLevel#L158-L162) [^4]: [`scripts/scrLevelGen.gml:234-237`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrLevelGen#L234-L237) [^5]: [`scripts/scrClearGlobals.gml:58`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrClearGlobals#L58) [^6]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^7]: [`objects/oPlayer1/alarm_0.gml:40-45`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/alarm_0#L40-L45) [^8]: [`scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:206-220`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrInitLevel#L206-L220) [^9]: [`scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:169`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrInitLevel#L169) [^10]: Clip yeti-lair/arrival [^11]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:52-216`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L52-L216) [^12]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:301-310`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L301-L310) [^13]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen3.gml:295-304`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen3#L295-L304) [^14]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:80-100`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L80-L100) [^15]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:101-129`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L101-L129) [^16]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:130-148`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L130-L148) [^17]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:196-216`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L196-L216) [^18]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:101-110`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L101-L110) [^19]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:127`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L127) [^20]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:443-450`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L443-L450) [^21]: [`scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:362-371`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrEntityGen#L362-L371) [^22]: [`scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:345-359`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrEntityGen#L345-L359) [^23]: [`objects/oIce/create.gml:3`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oIce/create#L3) [^24]: [`objects/oFrozenCaveman/destroy.gml:1-7`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oFrozenCaveman/destroy#L1-L7) [^25]: [`objects/oGame/step.gml:23-47`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oGame/step#L23-L47) [^26]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:96`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L96) [^27]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:125`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L125) [^28]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:145`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L145) [^29]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:241-262`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L241-L262) [^30]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:317`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L317) [^31]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:423-426`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L423-L426) [^32]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:124`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L124) [^33]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:311-314`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L311-L314) [^34]: [`objects/oThinIce/step.gml:1-13`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oThinIce/step#L1-L13) [^35]: [`scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:369`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrEntityGen#L369) [^36]: [`objects/oDark/create.gml:3-8`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oDark/create#L3-L8) [^37]: Clip yeti-king/swat [^38]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:149-181`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L149-L181) [^39]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:382-387`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L382-L387) [^40]: [`scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:373-376`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrEntityGen#L373-L376) [^41]: [`objects/oDark/create.gml:3-15`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oDark/create#L3-L15) [^42]: [`objects/oIce/create.gml:3-4`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oIce/create#L3-L4) [^43]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:182-195`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L182-L195) [^44]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:315-348`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L315-L348) [^45]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:427-434`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L427-L434) [^46]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:82-98`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L82-L98) [^47]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen3.gml:404-407`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen3#L404-L407) ### Source code - [`scripts/scrLevelGen.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrLevelGen) - [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti) - [`scripts/scrEntityGen.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrEntityGen) - [`objects/oPlayer1/alarm_0.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/alarm_0)