Spelunky 2 guide: How to unlock seeded runs

Spelunky 2 is an excellent, but brutal game for even the most experienced of players. Every level is filled with randomly generated enemy spawns, items, and layouts that make back-to-back consistent runs extremely hard to achieve. Thankfully, developer Mossmouth thought this over. With the power of seeded runs, you can guarantee an ideal run in Spelunky 2 every time.

The first thing to know is the difference between seeded and unseeded runs. A standard run in Spelunky 2 is known as an unseeded run. This is the regular adventure mode where you are able to unlock achievements. In unseeded runs, every time you respawn or load into a level, it will be different. This means that the focus is placed on scouting and foreseeing potential threats before they reach you.

This makes for some fun gameplay, but isn’t ideal for those looking to hunt down secrets. The many randomized elements can make it difficult to acquire the ideal items for deeper runs. Most notably, getting the essential combo of a jetpack and shotgun together is reliant on a degree of luck.

Seeded runs are great tools for guaranteeing easier runs. For example, this seed always gives a jetpack for just $8000 on 1-2.

Use seeded runs to explore

That’s where seeded runs come into play. Unlike unseeded runs, seeded runs are fixed levels that will always generate the same levels, items, and enemies. Technically, there are two different outcomes per level due to how Spelunky 2 generates floors.

Depending on if you finish the previous floor within 30 seconds, the next floor can be slightly different. This is usually not overly important, but for some of the meta seeds, there are specific floors you need to rush to in order to get the best item spawns. Regardless, this isn’t overly hard to do once you’ve learned the layout of said level.

Being able to guarantee yourself a shop this good as early as 1-2 is hard to pass on.

How to unlock them

Unfortunately, you do not get access to seeded runs straight away. I imagine this was done in order to encourage players to explore and learn the game first. This makes sense since seeded runs are effectively only useful for those hunting down difficult to reach secrets. Besides, if you’re on the hunt for end-game secrets, you’re probably pretty good at the game anyway.

To actually get access to seeded runs, you are going to need to unlock a total of 16 playable characters for Spelunky 2. Since you start out with four, that means you’ll have to find 12 of the 17 total unlockable characters. Most characters can be found in coffins across various levels. You can see the full list of unlockable characters and their locations below:

• Alto Singh: In a coffin at the end of 1-4.
• Liz Mutton: In a coffin in 2-1, Jungle stage.
• Lise Project: In a coffin in 2-1, Volcana stage.
• Nekka the Eagle: In a coffin in the Black Market.
• Coco von Diamonds: In a coffin in Vlad’s Castle.
• Manfred Tunnel: In a coffin at the bottom of Olmec’s Lair.
• Little Jay: In a coffin in 4-4, Tider Pool stage.
• Valerie Crump: In a coffin in 4-4, Temple of Anubis stage.
• Demi von Diamonds: In a coffin in Yeti Cave.
• Au: In a coffin in the City of Gold.
• Princess Airyn: In a coffin in 6-1, Neo Babylon stage.
• Guy Spelunky: Finish the game via the normal ending.
• Pilot: In a coffin on the Mothership.
• Dirk Yamoaka: In a coffin between 7-1 and 7-3, Sunken City stage. Kill the Goliath Frog for it.
• Classic Guy: Finish the game via the hidden ending.

Coffins are randomly placed on certain levels. Whipping one open will either unlock you a new character or provide a Helping Hand to work alongside.

Where to initiate seeded runs

That list is roughly in the order I’d recommend for unlocking them. Once you’ve acquired 16 total characters, you should be able to climb up the right side of your home base. This will lead you back up to the surface of the moon where your adventure first began.

Once there, head over to the far left until you reach Guy Spelunky’s spaceship. At the base of the ship should be the Wooden Idol. As soon as you pick it up, you’ll unlock seeded runs and can go secret hunting to your heart’s content.

In order to enter a seeded code in Spelunky 2, you just need to head over to the main menu, select play, and then finally hit ‘Seeded Run’. From here, you just need to type in the respective code for whatever seed you fancy.

To find useful seeds I’d recommend heading over to the official Spelunky Reddit. Many helpful users post their best seeds over there regularly. As a personal preference, I like using 8863D669 as it gives you an easy Plasma Cannon and bomb box early on.

For more useful Spelunky 2 tips and guides, be sure to check out our official guides and features hub.