It belongs in a museum! For our listener request week and the landmark 75th episode, we cover one of the foundational early roguelikes with Spelunky! Released in 2012 on the Xbox Live Arcade as a full-scale HD remaster of the 2008 freeware hit, Spelunky marked the watershed moment of stealing fire from the Berlin Roguelike gods and applying it to platformers. It’s undeniable legacy looms large, but does the nostalgia factor still stand strong? Will the hosts go hollow trying to make THIS one THE run? I mean, even the great Liz Mutton had to fall on a spike or two, right?

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Transcript

1:10 - game stats

4:35 - one sentence description

6:14 - Thesis about Spelunky as definitive video game

8:14 - Historical context of roguelike games pre-Spelunky

11:20 - Game difficulty and bounce-off rates discussion

16:14 - Comparing Spelunky difficulty to Dark Souls games

19:35 - Standard run walkthrough and tutorial explanation

28:47 - Controls mastery and engagement requirements

36:25 - Biome progression and level design philosophy

43:07 - Shopkeeper mechanics and vindictive AI behavior

54:02 - Olmec boss fight and final temple challenges

1:06:53 - Hell runs and eggplant challenge explanation

1:28:57 - Spelunky 2 comparison and sequel discussion

1:31:30 - Community feedback and player perspectives

1:41:11 - rankings and final thoughts

1:53:06 - similar games

Next episode: Elden Ring Nightreign

Contact us at [email protected]!

https://grogpod.zone

Intro music: Herbie Hancock - Thieves in the Temple

Outro music: Eirik Suhrke - Temple A