Spelunky 2

  • Many of the same tips apply from Spelunky 1: Always be carrying something to set off traps or throw at enemies. Look before you leap. Try to save your pet if you can but don't get yourself injured to do it. Break open pots and jars for loot but do it carefully as they can also contain enemies. You'll get a feel for what you can and can't do and for the new traps and enemies as you play.
  • One thing for new players would be to turn on the instant restart option in the menu because I think it's off by default.
  • A helpful thing to know is you can burn or blow up turkeys (out of sight of the turkey guy) for health.
  • Money is much more plentiful in this one, so hold off on killing shopkeepers unless you REALLY need something.
  • The game defaults to auto-sprint, press to walk, IIRC. This is changeable if you habitually just glue shift down.
  • Whipping is slightly different than the first Spelunky and will taking some getting used to. Most notable is that the backwards range on the whip is bigger. A good strategy for bats is to face away from them and when they are close, whip. The backwards hitbox on the whip will kill the bat.
  • You can steal from shopkeepers and potentially be forgiven. You have to steal from the shopkeeper, not kill him, and in the next level, NOT hurt any shopkeepers at all. If you get out without damaging another shopkeeper, you will be forgiven and they won't come after you. However, any damage to a shopkeeper counts against you, even if you didn't cause it. Some people have tested this and believe you just need to avoid killing shopkeepers, not hurting them. Either way, you'll get a message on screen saying "You feel forgiven" if it's taken effect.
  • You get more time per level now, 3 minutes compared to 2 minutes 30.
  • Ghost pots are high risk and reward. You get a diamond from breaking it, and diamonds now scale in value depending on the world. However breaking one summons the Ghost.
  • Various animals can be tamed and ridden (jump on it and wait out its panic)! The turkeys are one of them, try it out!
  • Non-obvious controls: press down+buy to remove your back item (e.g. explosive backpack), down+jump to get off your mount.