Spike Ball

• Spelunky 2
• Spelunky HD

Damage:	2 (While in Motion) Instant Death (Crushing)
Notes:	Wiil drop the Spikeball when anything travels beneath it.

Spikeballs are a commonly seen trap found in the Volcana. Much like their Spelunky HD counterparts, they consist of a large Spikeball bound to a chain created by an anchor block. However, they differ significantly in their method of attack, with Spark Traps now fulfilling the role they once played.

Mechanics

When any entity moves under a Spikeball trap and is within its vertical detection range of approximately 9 tiles, it will wait a brief second before rapidly extending downwards. It will stop once hitting the ground, destroying the surface tile in the process and crushing anything unfortunate enough to be in between it and the ground.

While descending, the Spikeball will violently smack any entity in its way, stunning them and dealing 2 damage. While this may knock the victim out of its fatal crush attack if they were hit from one of its sides, entities hit directly under the Spikeball will have their death assured with this attack.

The chain that Spikeballs are connected to have unlimited length, and may descend all the way to the bottom of the level if necessary. In the Cosmic Ocean, the Spikeball will stop at the point where the level wraps around. Once the Spikeball has reached the ground, it will sit there for a moment before the chain begins to slowly recede back into the anchor block, pulling the Spikeball up with it.

Becoming stuck between the ascending Spikeball and its anchor block will crush anything between it much like how being stuck between a descending Spikeball and the ground will.

The Spikeball may be used as a platform and the chain may be climbed like a rope, although both will pull the player up or down with them as they rapidly descend or revert to their original position.

Destroying

If the anchor block producing the chain the Spikeball is bound to is destroyed, the Spikeball will detach and roll freely throughout the level, destroying tiles in its way akin to a small boulder.

Although the rolling will not deal any damage to entities if they make contact with it, it may crush them and their victim against the wall or ground with relative ease, and will destroy items in its way without hesitation. Once its movement has ceased, it may only be set back in motion by an explosion, such as that of a bomb and cannot be destroyed, again much like a boulder.

Damage:	• 2 (Contact with swinging ball) • Instant Death (Crushed by rolling ball)
Notes:	• The anchor block can be pushed • When the anchor block is destroyed, the spike ball detaches and rolls like a miniature boulder.

Spike Balls are obstacles encountered in Hell. They consist of a pushable 'anchor' block, with an spinning spike ball that orbits around it at varying speed. Some are really fast and can stun-lock you by themselves while others seemingly don't move at all.
The motion of the ball is not impeded by otherwise-solid blocks and will pass over them in the foreground, and will never run out of momentum whilst attached to the anchor. The Spike Ball itself only affects crates, pots, the eggplant, snowballs, dead skeletons, lava buckets, monsters and the player. The anchor block acts exactly like the normal pushable blocks.

A great number of them appear surrounding the Golden Idols that spawn in Hell.

Disarming

If the anchor is destroyed the Spike Ball will detach from the chain and smash through the level until it runs out of momentum, similar to a small boulder. The player should be cautious in levels with many Spike Balls,

Screenshot of a Spike Ball in motion

as it is very possible that letting a single Spike Ball free can also destroy the anchors to other Spike Balls. Anchor Blocks will also be destroyed if they reach the bottom of a lava pit and thus the release of their spike ball, which can be very surprising.

Trivia

• The Weapon is likely a reference to the Ball 'n Chain in the Mario Bros games inside castles