Spelunker

Deep underground, in a maze of caves full of traps, a treasure lurks – and so do countless ways to meet your end. Spelunker is famous for the merciless fragility of its main hero, who dies at the slightest wrong step, and it is precisely this trait that made it one of the most unforgettable titles of the 8-bit era.

Your task is to explore a sprawling cave complex, descend ever deeper and collect treasures while chasms, ghosts, bats and deadly gases threaten you. But your spelunker is famously vulnerable – a fall from a height just a few pixels greater than his own means instant death. This leads to careful, cautious progress, where you have to think twice about every jump. On top of that, the game combines platforming elements with exploration and resource management, since you have to watch both your air supply and your batteries.

It was precisely the extreme difficulty and the fragility of the character that became Spelunker's hallmark and the subject of countless debates among players. Frustrating for some, an irresistible challenge for others – few games evoked such strong emotions. Paradoxically, this reputation made the game famous and secured it cult status.

Spelunker emerged in the mid-eighties and originally appeared on home computers, including the Atari 8-bit, after which it received ports to other platforms, including consoles, where it built up its own fan base. Its cave-exploration theme was fresh and distinctive for its time.

Today Spelunker is remembered as a classic that defined a certain type of demanding exploration platformer, and as a title whose name became synonymous with fair but relentless difficulty. Its legacy lives on in modern games inspired by cave exploration.

Why play: A cult exploration platformer with the famous fragility of its hero that will test your patience and precision.