For Colossal Cave players, this guide will show you how to get 350 points, which means a full breakdown and walkthrough
With limited turns and limited inventory space, getting 350 points in Colossal Cave requires efficiency, planning, and good inventory management. Some knowledge about the game’s mechanics doesn’t hurt, either!
In the first part of this walkthrough guide, I’ll list every action and event that awards points. Check this section to find anything you’ve missed.
In the video walkthrough, I’ll show you how to bring all 15 treasures to the wellhouse in four trips, complete all other point-getting activities, and exit the cave to achieve a full score.
Points Breakdown
As long as you don’t read the instructions, you’ll start the game with 32 points.
Each treasure you see awards 2 points (15 x 2 = 30 total). Any form of interaction (eye or hand icon) counts as “seeing” a treasure, even if you don’t pick it up.
Each treasure you place in the wellhouse awards points as follows:
- Gold Nugget, Diamonds, Precious Jewelry, Rare Coins, or Bars of Silver: 10 points each (5 x 10 = 50 total)
- Ming Vase, Persian Rug, Egg-Sized Emerald, Platinum Pyramid, Golden Eggs, Jeweled Trident, Rare Spices, Golden Chain, or Pearl: 14 points each (9 x 14 = 126 total)
- Pirate’s Treasure Chest: 12 points
These non-treasure actions or events award points:
- 25 points for being attacked by a dwarf for the first time (this is pretty much automatic)
- 1 point for dropping the Spelunker Today magazine in Witt’s End
- 25 points for surviving until the “cave closing soon” warning
- 10 points for surviving until the cave closes
- 35 points for blasting open the wall of the repository with dynamite
- 4 points for not quitting the game (these are awarded at any ending, even player death, as long as you didn’t quit)
You will lose points for doing any of the following:
- reading the instructions
- taking hints from the narrator
- dying
Video Walkthrough
Note that the timing of the pirate’s appearance is random. He appeared relatively late in this playthrough, but he can appear much earlier or even later. I account for this by making the pirate’s hideout a “side quest” of sorts; as soon as he appears, I go straight to his hideout, take everything, and deposit only the treasure chest at the wellhouse. Then, I continue what I was doing before as if nothing happened. This approach is pretty consistent, but there’s still some uncertainty. Keep the following in mind:
- If your inventory was full before he robbed you, you’ll need to drop something to make room for the treasure chest. Be sure to leave the dropped item somewhere that’s easily accessible on your way back. If you have nothing left besides the lantern and the axe, you’ll need to make multiple trips to the hideout or risk going into the maze without the axe (not recommended).
- If you postpone visiting the pirate’s hideout, he might rob you additional times. This can greatly complicate your route to completion.
- If he hasn’t shown up by then, he is guaranteed to appear shortly after you’ve interacted with every other treasure besides the treasure chest. (In this route, that would be the pearl.)
TIMECODES
0:00 – Entering the Cave
1:08 – Treasure Roundup 1: Gold Nugget, Diamonds, Precious Jewelry, Rare Coins, Bars of Silver
7:13 – Treasure Roundup 2: Ming Vase, Persian Rug, Egg-Sized Emerald, Platinum Pyramid
15:17 – Treasure Roundup 3: Golden Eggs, Jeweled Trident, Rare Spices, Golden Chain, Pearl
24:11 – Interlude: Pirate’s Treasure Chest
27:47 – Treasure Roundup 3 continued
32:17 – Exiting the Cave & Ending