Cave Game

Cave Game is a side-view cave exploration game. You play a small dino spelunker in a yellow helmet with a headlamp, and your job is to explore dark caverns, collect glowing crystals and fossils, and find the daylight exit. The lamp lights only a small circle around you, so most of each cave stays hidden until you walk into it. Play Cave Game free online in your browser with no download, on a keyboard or a touch screen.

How to play

• Walk and jump: move with the arrow keys or WASD, or the arrow buttons on a phone. Press Space or JUMP to jump. A jump lifts you two tiles, and if you hold a direction you drift up to three tiles sideways, which is enough to clear a two-tile gap or hop onto a ledge.
• Climb ropes: stand at a rope and press Up or Down to climb. You can stand on the top of a rope, step off it to the side or jump off it.
• Collect everything: crystals and fossils twinkle faintly in the dark, so you can spot them before your light reaches them. Walk into one to pick it up. The Gems counter shows how many are left.
• Find the way out: each cave has one bright opening where daylight spills in. Walk into it to finish the cave.

Your lamp and the glow worms

The Lamp meter is your headlamp battery. It drains steadily while you explore, and as it runs down the circle of light around you shrinks. With an empty battery you can still move, but you will see only a tile or two ahead.

• Glow worms: the patches of tiny blue-green lights on the cave walls recharge your lamp quickly while you stand next to them.
• Camps: the last glow-worm patch you rested at is also your camp. If something goes wrong, you go back there instead of the start of the cave.
• Deeper caves drain faster: the lamp lasts longest in the first zone and runs down faster the deeper you go, so plan a route that passes a glow-worm patch.

Cave hazards

There is no fighting in Cave Game. The caves themselves are the challenge.

• Bottomless pits: gaps in the floor that drop out of the bottom of the cave. Fall in and you climb back out at your camp, with the clock still running.
• Loose rocks: grey boulders hanging from the ceiling. When you walk underneath, a rock shakes for a moment and then drops. Keep moving and it lands behind you. Stand still and it bonks your helmet, which sends you back to camp.
• Water drips: stalactites drip water at a steady rhythm. A drip on your lamp costs 15% of the battery, so time your walk between the drops.

Caves, zones and stars

There are 18 handcrafted caves in three zones of six. The Crystal Hollows teach walking, jumping and ropes. The Fossil Depths add loose rocks and plenty of fossils to dig out of side tunnels. The Deep Dark combines every hazard in larger caves where the lamp drains fastest. Finishing a cave unlocks the next one.

Each cave has three stars. You earn one for reaching the exit, one for collecting every crystal and fossil, and one for finishing within the par time shown next to the timer. Your best stars and unlocked caves are saved in your browser, so you can come back later and replay any cave to chase a missing star.

Tips

• Look before you drop. Some holes lead to a lower tunnel, and the only way back up may be a rope on the far side. Collect what you can reach on the upper level first.
• Use the twinkles. Gems and fossils sparkle through the dark, so pause for a second and count them before you set off.
• Do not linger under rocks. A loose rock only drops after it shakes, so walking straight under it is always safe.

FAQ

Is Cave Game free?

Yes. It is free to play with no account and nothing to install.

Does it work on phones and Chromebooks?

Yes. On a phone or tablet, use the arrow buttons and the JUMP button under the cave. On a Chromebook or laptop, use the arrow keys or WASD and Space.

Can I pause?

Press P or Esc, or use the Pause button. The game also pauses when you switch tabs. Press M to turn the sound on or off.

Are the cave facts real?

Yes, they are kept simple. Glow worms are the larvae of small flies that shine to attract food, stalactites hang from cave ceilings while stalagmites grow up from the floor, and many fossils formed where mud buried bones and shells long ago.

Like exploring? Try Platformer for more jumping and climbing, or find your way through Maze.