Cave Dash
Dig, climb and dash through procedurally generated caves: grab the gold, dodge the traps, reach the exit far below.
How to play Cave Dash
Cave Dash is a Spelunky-inspired descent: every level is a freshly carved cavern and your goal is always the same. Get from the entrance at the top to the glowing exit door at the bottom, grabbing as much treasure as you dare on the way. Run with the arrow keys or A/D, jump with Space, and climb ladders and dropped ropes with W and S (on a phone, use the on-screen direction pad and the big JUMP button). Snakes patrol the ledges, bats wake and swoop, and spiders drop on their threads. Leap and land on any of them from above to squash it, but touch one from the side and you'll lose a heart. The caves are full of nastier traps too: spike and lava pits with tempting gems floating over them, totems that fire arrows when you cross their line, and boulders that break loose and roll. You carry a handful of bombs (B) and ropes (R). Bombs blast holes through rock to reach sealed pockets of treasure and ropes let you climb back up, but these are bonuses for greedy explorers: every level can always be finished with running, jumping and the built-in ladders alone. Collect gold coins and gems, pick up hearts to heal, and clear all eight levels across three colour themes: earth caves, ice caverns and lava depths. Your best gold total is saved to the leaderboard.
Falling costs nothing
Cave Dash has no fall damage. You can step off any ledge, from any height, and land with every heart you had. Once that sinks in, you'll move through the caves a lot faster. The top of each ladder is a gap in the floor, so walking onto it drops you straight down the shaft. If you want to stop partway, hold up or down as you pass the ladder and you'll grab on.
Your jump comes in two sizes. Tap jump for a short hop, or hold it for a full jump of about two and a half tiles. You also get a tenth of a second to jump after running off an edge. On a phone, slide your thumb across the pad to change direction without lifting it. Once in a while the route down includes a step two tiles high, and only a held jump gets you up it.
Bats are the level 1 problem
New players expect snakes to be the early threat. Snakes only spawn on flat floor, though, so on level 1 about four enemies in five are bats. A bat sleeps on the ceiling and wakes when you come within about four tiles and it can see you. Rock blocks its view, so a bat below a ladder shaft sleeps while you walk overhead and wakes once you drop into its room.
An awake bat flies straight at you at 3 tiles a second, half your running speed, and it never goes back to sleep. Standing still is the worst move. A hit knocks you back and makes you flicker for 1.2 seconds, but the bat catches up and hits again as soon as the flicker ends. Four hearts can vanish in under four seconds that way. Jump as it closes in instead. It rises to follow you, you come down on top of it, and it's gone. Hold jump as you land for a bigger bounce.
Snakes crawl at 1.9 tiles a second and turn around at walls and ledge edges, which makes them easy to time. Spiders show up from level 2. Each one drops on its thread to about head height and climbs back up, roughly every four seconds, so pass under it on the way up. The room you start in never has enemies or traps.
Traps follow simple rules
Arrow totems appear from level 2. A totem faces the middle of its room and only shoots one way. It fires when you're about level with it and within 9 tiles, with no rock in between. Then it needs 2.4 seconds to reload. Come at it from behind or run past during the reload. You can even stand on top of one. Boulders arrive on level 3. They sit in the ceiling and drop when you get close. Keep moving: a rolling boulder does 4.4 tiles a second to your 6, and it crumbles on its own after six seconds.
Pits are one or two tiles wide and never appear in the start room or the bottom row of rooms. Spikes cost one heart. On levels 7 and 8 the pits are lava, which costs two. A gem worth 50 floats over every pit, and a short hop across picks it up. If you do fall in, the pit pops you back up to the rim. Push away right then, or it takes another heart when your flicker runs out.
Where the gold is
Coins on the route are worth 10, and about one in five is worth 25. The better haul sits in sealed pockets inside the rooms the route skips, usually five or more per level. Look for a glowing hollow in the rock. A pocket holds two to four coins worth 25 each and often a 50 gem. It also has one rope, bomb or heart. A heart heals one and raises your maximum by one, up to eight. Hearts, bombs and ropes all carry over between levels.
You start with 3 bombs and 3 ropes. A bomb lands a short way ahead and explodes after 2 seconds, clearing rock, spikes and totems about two tiles around. Ladders, lava and the outer wall survive it. Stand back, because the blast takes a heart if you're within about two tiles. A rope hangs straight up for up to 6 tiles, which is your way back to the route after raiding a pocket below it. Each exit door adds 150 gold, and escaping level 8 adds 500 instead.
The room grid comes from Spelunky, which Derek Yu first released as a free PC game in 2008. Each Cave Dash level is four rooms wide and three to five rooms deep. The game picks its route first. It moves room by room and only ever goes left, right or down. Then it carves a corridor and ladders along that route, so a way forward always exists. If you'd rather dig than blast, Digger is worth a look.
Cave Dash leaderboard
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Cave Dash: frequently asked questions
What is the goal in Cave Dash?
Descend from the entrance at the top of each cave to the glowing exit door at the bottom, collecting gold and gems along the way. Clear all eight levels (which run through earth caves, ice caverns and lava depths) to escape. Your score is the total gold you gather, and your best run is saved to the leaderboard.
Do I need bombs or ropes to finish a level?
No. Bombs and ropes are optional bonuses for reaching extra treasure and climbing back up. Every level is procedurally generated with a guaranteed path of corridors and ladders that you can always complete using only running, jumping and climbing. If you run out of bombs and ropes, you can still beat the game.
How do I deal with the snakes, bats and spiders?
Jump and land on an enemy from above to stomp it and bounce off. Hold jump as you land for a higher bounce. Bumping into one from the side or below costs you a heart and knocks you back, so approach from the top. Bombs also destroy any enemies caught in the blast.
Is Cave Dash free and does it work on mobile?
Yes. It runs free in your browser with no download or sign-up. On touch screens an on-screen direction pad handles movement and climbing while dedicated JUMP, bomb and rope buttons cover the rest, so it plays well on phones, tablets and desktop alike.
Does falling hurt in Cave Dash?
No. There's no fall damage at all, so you can drop off any ledge, from any height, and keep every heart. Walking onto the top of a ladder drops you down its shaft. Hold up or down as you pass the ladder if you'd rather grab it and climb.
Do hearts, bombs and ropes carry over between levels?
Yes. A run starts with 4 hearts, 3 bombs and 3 ropes, and whatever you have left comes with you into each new cave. A heart pickup heals one heart and also raises your maximum by one, up to 8.
How is the gold score counted?
Coins are worth 10 or 25, gems are worth 50, and coins in sealed treasure pockets are worth 25 each. Each exit door on levels 1 to 7 adds 150, and escaping level 8 adds 500. Your best total is saved as your high score.
When do arrow totems fire?
Totems appear from level 2 and face the middle of their room. One fires when you are about level with it and within 9 tiles, with no rock in between, then needs 2.4 seconds to reload. Approach from behind, stand on top of it, or blow it up with a bomb.
What changes in the ice caverns and lava depths?
Levels 4 to 6 are the ice caverns, which add a fourth row of rooms, so the way down is longer. Levels 7 and 8 are the lava depths, five rows deep, and their pits are lava that costs two hearts instead of one. The ice looks slick but isn't slippery.
Is Cave Dash free to play?
Yes. Cave Dash is completely free on Inkplay, with no download, no sign-up, and no in-game purchases. Open the page and play instantly on desktop or mobile.
Can I play Cave Dash unblocked?
Yes. Cave Dash runs entirely in your browser with no download, install, or plugins, so it loads instantly and keeps working even on school or work networks where bigger game sites get blocked.
More games to play
In the mood for more? Try Snake, Breakout, Pong, Blocks, or browse all arcade games and the full games list on Inkplay.