Can't go forward, can't go back.
Suicide. As if it weren't easy enough to die in Spelunky, this is a key combination that causes immediate death. ESC brings up the pause menu, and F1 selects the option to die.
There are a few situations where this is a useful option. For example:
- The Ball and Chain snags when jumping off a ledge, making you unable to drop down or climb back up.
- You are stuck in a snake pit with no bombs, no ropes, no mattock and nothing left to do but die.
- To revive inside the Moai in the Ice Caves whilst retaining your held item. This is not possible to do by dying any other way.
- Scumming to restart the game until the odds fall in your favor.
Note that in Spelunky HD and Spelunky 2, the 'Die' command is replaced by the 'End Adventure' command, which functions precisely as it is labelled. It will not allow you to be revived if you are holding the Ankh.