Caves and Corridors Guide: Swinging to a Gold Trophy

     Have you ever wanted to swing from vine to vine, dodge poisonous darts, avoid falling boulders, and jump over lava in a quest to collect hidden gems and treasure? Or maybe you’ve always wanted a shiny trophy for your user lookup. Or perhaps you simply want a high score to brag to your Neofriends about. Whatever the reason, Caves and Corridors may be just the perfect game for you! I played this game for the first time during Daily Dare 2019 and found it to be quite a bit of fun! I’ve developed some strategies as I’ve played this game, and now I want to share them with you.

     General Controls:

     Before we get started, let’s review the basics for this game. This is a standard action game in which you play as Jake the Explorer, adventuring around Mystery Island in a quest for lost treasure. You can control Jake using the arrow keys (to move) and space bar (to jump). The up and down arrow keys can also be used to climb up and down ladders and vines.

     Scoring:

     Each level has various treasure and one fruit. You are scored on how quickly you complete each level (time remaining cut in half) plus any treasure you collect and are then ranked as “None”, “Bronze”, “Silver”, or “Gold”. At least a rank of Silver is required to progress to the next level. The value of each item can be found below:

     • Statue - 2 points

     • Bar - 4 points

     • Coin - 6 points

     • Chest - 20 points

     • Green Gem - 30 points

     • Red Gem - 40 points

     • Fruit - 50 points

     • Idol – 50 points

     • Completing the game (finishing level 13) – 100 points

          Basic Tips and Tricks:

     • Levels can be replayed as many times as necessary. If you don’t have your desired score on your first completion , there is no penalty in trying again.

     • Levels can be played in any order once you’ve unlocked them. I personally play the toughest ones first, but you can do whichever method you prefer.

     • If you lose all your lives, you can press “continue” so that all the levels you unlocked remain playable. Note that once you finish Level 13, the game ends.

     • There are three codes you can type in this game to make it easier. “gimmeabreak” will award you with a random number of extra lives (up to 5) – use this trick whenever. “freetime” will stop the timer. “nomorerocks” will prevent boulders from falling in your current level. In my walkthrough, I will detail where I use these other two codes.

     • In order to complete a level more quickly, you can jump off ladders instead of climbing down them. This is critical because completing a level quickly is the key to obtaining a high score – every second counts!

     • Climbing a vine is quicker than climbing a ladder. Therefore, you can climb a vine adjacent to a ladder and then transfer over to the ladder near the top. This saves previous time.

          Traps:

     Spikes – In some levels, spikes rise from the ground. These are pretty easy to jump over, so don’t worry about them too much.

     Tiki Statues – Many levels have these seemingly-harmless statues that will abruptly glow red and shoot a dart at you if you stay in front of them too long. As long as you are alert, you shouldn’t have much trouble with these.

     Rocks – Many levels have falling rocks. In my opinion, these are the most difficult objects to avoid in the game.

     Walkthrough:

     Finally, the part that everyone has been waiting for. I will now summarize how to complete each level. This guide translates to a score of roughly 2000, which on reset day will be enough for a Silver or Gold trophy.

     Level 1:

     This level is a good introduction to the game. There is one boulder, but it never seems to be in the way. Climb up the first two ladders and, instead of climbing up the vine, take a running leap to the next platform Jump on the vine, collect all four coins, and then drop off the right side to obtain the berry. Rating: Easy Target Score: 117

     Level 2:

     I struggled with this level quite a bit at first. Jump on the vine, collect the coin and continue upwards. Drop on to the ledge to collect the statue and then jump back on the vine. Climb all the way up and to the right to collect the two coins. Then move back to the left. You can wait until the spikes are down or you can jump over them on your way to the gold bar (note, if the boulder is right there, you will most likely get a higher score if you just went down the ladder and ignored the bar). Once you go down the ladder (jumping over / avoiding spikes as necessary), you can collect the statue, and the berry. Rating: Medium Hard Target Score: 104

     Level 3:

     This level is much easier than the previous one because there are no boulders, but don’t take it for granted – there are tiki statues that will shoot darts at you! Take a running leap to the right to collect the green gem and then to the left to collect the red gem. Climb up the vine up until you collect the first coin and are roughly below the platform with the statue and then fall downwards and to the right to grab the next vine. Work your way to the second coin and move back to the original vine and go up to the final coin. Transfer to the ladder (do this at the top part of the vine as it’s quicker than climbing the full ladder) and take a running jump from the top platform to the final vine. Grab the treasure and then the berry. Rating: Easy Target Score: 192

     Level 4:

     The dreaded boulders return on this level. There are two boulders, and it’s always good to keep an eye on where they are. You may have to replay this level a couple of times because the time it takes to complete varies significantly depending on where the boulders are. Take the vines up to the middle platform with the tiki statue and then fall down to the platform down and a bit to the right (theoretically, you may be able to do a running jump to the vine, but I’m unsuccessful at it). Climb the vine(s) to get the two coins and then the ladder. Grab the rest of the treasure and finish the level by getting the berry. Rating: Medium Target Score: 112

     Level 5:

     Although this level has a boulder, it remains in the same general area. Climb up the ladder to the platform with the statues and grab the lowest hanging vine. Don’t take too long because the statues may shoot darts at you. Collect all four coins and take the middle two vines up to the top. Fall on the platform and transfer to the ladder (it’s important to jump on the ladder near the top because climbing a ladder takes a long time, losing precious points). Grab the gold item and jump on the vine to the left. Scale quickly down the vine to get the fruit. Rating: Easy Target Score: 130

     Level 6:

     Climb the ladder and, minding the two spikes, jump on the vines to collect the coins. Get the red gem and climb the ladder up to the platform. Take a running jump to get on the vine and begin moving up and to the right. Take this final set of stairs (I take them to the very top, but you may be able to do a running leap from the first exit point) and get the fruit. Rating: Easy-Medium (doing this level quickly takes practice) Target Score: 138

     Level 7:

     Grab the vine and take it almost all the way up. Get the three coins on your left and proceed up and left to get the two red gems. Fall all the way down to the platform and grab the long vine. Scale this vine down to get the green gem, and then all you have to do is grab the final coin and the fruit. Remember to avoid the ladder as going up and down the ladder will take unnecessary time and thus reduce your score. Rating: Medium Target Score: 222

     Level 8:

     And the boulders are back!!! Climb the first vine and take a running jump to the one on the left. Climb it up and grab the statue on your left. Go all the way right and grab the bar that’s over the spikes. Climb back up the vine and to the right. Take the ladder up to grab the fruit. Rating: Medium Target Score: 93

     Level 9:

     This is the level where I recommend using codes. Start off by typing “freetime” to stop the timer. Then, type “nomorerocks” to make all the boulders disappear. Now, you can get a max score without having to worry about any obstacles. I won’t give you a walkthrough on this level because it’s already simple enough with unlimited time and no rocks. However, be careful of the spikes near the starting point and don’t accidentally lose a life. You’ve already used up your codes and can’t do it again! Rating: Hard (but easy if you use codes, which I recommend) Target Score: 152

     Level 10:

     Jump on the vine to your left and climb up it 2/3 of the way. Fall to the left to grab the next vine and work your way to get the gold bars. Get back to the long vine and climb it all the way up. Move to the left to get the coin and then all the way to the top right to get the final coins. Drop down to get the green gem and then down some more to get the final fruit. The speed at which you complete this level is dependent on how good you are at jumping. It took me a lot of tries to get fast – don’t get discouraged if you need a few tries. Rating: Medium-Hard Target Score: 171

     Level 11:

     Whewww. Almost at the end!!! There is only one path for this level. Take the vines as far left as you can go and then all the way up. Transfer over to the ladder and take a running jump to get the red gem. Grab the coin and the statue next and fall down to get the fruit. As always, avoid climbing up and down ladders when you can because it adds unnecessary time to your score. Rating: Medium (Only because there are so many statues) Target Score: 142

     Level 12:

     Climb the vine on your left, switch over to the one on the right, and climb up until you can grab the coin. Continue climbing up and then move to the right to get the gold bars. Get back on the vines and grab the coins to the right. Drop all the way down to get the berry. Target Score: 178

     Level 13:

     This is it! The final level! I’ve walked through every step of the way with you thus far, so why don’t you try this one on your own. Use all the tips and tricks we’ve discussed previously, and you’ll get a high score in no time. Remember, once you finish this level, the game is over. You get a 100 point bonus and you are done. Therefore, if you need to maximize scores in other levels, do that prior to playing this one. Target Score: 262 (including 100 point bonus)

     Conclusion:

     I hope you found this guide informative and helpful. If you ever get stuck, there are wonderful people on the Neoboards happy to help. Additionally, feel free to mail the authors of this article. Happy adventuring!