Chests can be found on every level of the game, containing varying quantities of treasure.
They can be opened by damaging them, for instance with the whip.
Contents
When opened, chests will contain a random assortment of 3-4 large and small jewels, but not diamonds.
Vault Chests
The two chests guarded by Shopkeepers inside vaults are substantially more valuable.
When opened, each chest produces eight random large jewels, and never contain any small ones.
Rigged Chests
There is a snall chance that chests may be booby-trapped to release a primed bomb when opened, and usually contain only one or two small jewels. There is no way to tell if a chest is rigged before you open it.
Trap bombs explode with the same power as a regular bombs, but have shorter fuses.
As an explosion deals 10 points of damage, it is usually fatal to be caught in one. For this reason, it is always advisable to be prepared to escape a potential fiery death when opening chests.