Health refers to a character's state of vital well-being, symbolizing their capacity to withstand injuries without dying.
Health is represented objectively, in numeric units known as 'hit points' (HP) or 'hearts'. Most characters in Spelunky have a finite number of hit points (HP) which are lost when they take damage. When a character runs out of HP, they die. Players can only have up to 99 HP.
Damage can result from a wide range of sources - either from being attacked by a monster, getting caught in a trap or by falling from a great height.
Some sources of damage deal multiple hit points worth of damage in a single stroke. Other scenarios can even cause instant death regardless of how much health a character has (being crushed by a boulder, impaled by spikes, eaten by a Mantrap or by falling into the Abyss).
Gaining Health[]
Health is a valuable resource in Spelunky. The player Spelunkers begin the game with a relatively low total of hit points, and increasing the total number of hit points is a slow and difficult task.
At first, the player is not much tougher than many of the monsters they will face on their adventure, and are always outnumbered, making every point of health a precious asset
Spelunky 2[]
A stacked out HUD in Spelunky 2. Due to the general ease of obtaining health, this amount of HP is a common sight in many runs.
While health is an invaluable and difficult to increase resource in Spelunky HD and Spelunky Classic, it is substantially easier to earn health in Spelunky 2, making insta-kill hazards the prime threat in the sequel.
- Bringing a Pet to the level exit (rewards 1 HP)
- Collecting a Cooked Turkey (rewards 1 HP)
- Collecting Royal Jelly (rewards 6 HP)
- Collecting Eggplant Flesh (rewards 10 HP)
- Collecting the Elixir (rewards 8 HP)
- Absorbing eight drops of blood with the Kapala (rewards 1 HP)
- Standing on the arms of the Mother Statue for 10 seconds (rewards 4 HP)
Health can be easily obtained by offering numerous souls to Kali (1 Royal Jelly per 8 favor after getting the Kapala), or farming blood from Vampires and Mummies for use with the Kapala, with or without the blood-doubling power of Vlad's Cape.
Effect on Constellation[]
Health count determines the number of stars of a Constellation created when reaching 7-99 in the Cosmic Ocean. Completing the Cosmic Ocean with at least 50 HP will cause the Constellation's first word to be "Animus".
| Health Count | Star Count |
|---|---|
| 1-8 | 5 |
| 9-13 | 6 |
| 14-18 | 7 |
| 19-23 | 8 |
| 24-28 | 9 |
| 29-33 | 10 |
| 34-39 | 11 |
| 39-43 | 12 |
| 44-48 | 13 |
| 49-53 | 14 |
| 54-58 | 15 |
| 59-63 | 16 |
| 64-68 | 17 |
| 69-73 | 18 |
| 74-78 | 19 |
| 79-83 | 20 |
| 84-88 | 21 |
| 89-93 | 22 |
| 94-98 | 23 |
| 99 | 24 |
Spelunky HD[]
A much more humble HUD seen in Spelunky HD, as health and resources are more difficult to attain.
- Bringing a [[Damsel (HD)}Damsel]] to the level exit (rewards 1 HP)
- Buying a kiss at a kissing booth (rewards 1 HP)
- Collecting Royal Jelly (rewards 4 HP)
- Absorbing eight drops of blood with the Kapala (rewards 1 HP)
- Earning 32 favor points at an altar (rewards 8 HP)
Spelunky Classic[]
- Bringing a Damsel to the level exit (Rewards 1 HP).
- Buying a kiss at a Kissing Booth (Rewards 1 HP).
- Absorbing eight drops of blood with the Kapala (Rewards 1 HP).
- Gaining 48 favor points at an altar, and for every 16 points above that (Rewards 4-8 HP).