Rockford a study of the 1988 game

Forty caves, drawn whole

The game shows a cave through a scrolling window 20 columns by 11 rows, half its width and half its height. Most of a cave is always out of sight, and nobody playing in 1988 saw one of these whole.

Here are the cave file's forty caves, four to a world, at their full 40 by 22 as the loader leaves them: before anything has fallen, exploded or been collected. The first five worlds hold the twenty caves the 1988 menu offers, the last five the twenty it cannot reach (Hidden worlds).

None of these pictures is the original's; they are here for the layout. The 1988 five use this project's own tiles, redrawn for its enhanced build, VIP. The hidden five use VIP tiles generated from Aleksi Sahala's reconstructions of those worlds, so they are derived from his art and are not this project's own. His repository has no licence; on 7 October 2026 he agreed to the use of his tilesets with credit and a link, and the art comes down if he asks.

Hunter

Records 0 to 3. This world calls its treasure GOLD.

Hunter, cave 1, drawn whole
Cave 1. 40 GOLD to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 80, or 100 once the quota is met.
Hunter, cave 2, drawn whole
Cave 2. 40 GOLD to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 70, or 90 once the quota is met.
Hunter, cave 3, drawn whole
Cave 3. 80 GOLD to open the exit, in 130 seconds. Each scores 25, or 35 once the quota is met.
Hunter, cave 4, drawn whole
Cave 4. 150 GOLD to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 15, or 25 once the quota is met.

Cook

Records 8 to 11. This world calls its treasure APPLES.

Cook, cave 1, drawn whole
Cave 1. 50 APPLES to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 60, or 80 once the quota is met.
Cook, cave 2, drawn whole
Cave 2. 35 APPLES to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 95, or 125 once the quota is met.
Cook, cave 3, drawn whole
Cave 3. 25 APPLES to open the exit, in 90 seconds. Each scores 85, or 110 once the quota is met.
Cook, cave 4, drawn whole
Cave 4. 45 APPLES to open the exit, in 130 seconds. Each scores 55, or 75 once the quota is met.

Cowboy

Records 16 to 19. This world calls its treasure COINS.

Cowboy, cave 1, drawn whole
Cave 1. 30 COINS to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 90, or 110 once the quota is met.
Cowboy, cave 2, drawn whole
Cave 2. 125 COINS to open the exit, in 115 seconds. Each scores 20, or 30 once the quota is met.
Cowboy, cave 3, drawn whole
Cave 3. 22 COINS to open the exit, in 120 seconds. Each scores 120, or 150 once the quota is met.
Cowboy, cave 4, drawn whole
Cave 4. 55 COINS to open the exit, in 115 seconds. Each scores 50, or 70 once the quota is met.

Space

Records 24 to 27. This world calls its treasure SUNS.

Space, cave 1, drawn whole
Cave 1. 26 SUNS to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 85, or 120 once the quota is met.
Space, cave 2, drawn whole
Cave 2. 55 SUNS to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 50, or 80 once the quota is met.
Space, cave 3, drawn whole
Cave 3. 60 SUNS to open the exit, in 140 seconds. Each scores 30, or 45 once the quota is met.
Space, cave 4, drawn whole
Cave 4. 60 SUNS to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 45, or 65 once the quota is met.

Body

Records 32 to 35. This world calls its treasure HEARTS.

Body, cave 1, drawn whole
Cave 1. 18 HEARTS to open the exit, in 130 seconds. Each scores 110, or 130 once the quota is met.
Body, cave 2, drawn whole
Cave 2. 70 HEARTS to open the exit, in 160 seconds. Each scores 30, or 40 once the quota is met.
Body, cave 3, drawn whole
Cave 3. 75 HEARTS to open the exit, in 170 seconds. Each scores 80, or 120 once the quota is met.
Body, cave 4, drawn whole
Cave 4. 18 HEARTS to open the exit, in 140 seconds. Each scores 120, or 150 once the quota is met.

Scuba hidden

The hidden five start here (Hidden worlds). Scuba and Player were on the menu of the first release, dated 9 November 1987, and 1988 withdrew them. Music, Luck and Miner were never on the menu of any home release.

Records 4 to 7. This world calls its treasure GEMS.

Scuba, cave 1, drawn whole
Cave 1. 20 GEMS to open the exit, in 80 seconds. Each scores 110, or 140 once the quota is met.
Scuba, cave 2, drawn whole
Cave 2. 65 GEMS to open the exit, in 140 seconds. Each scores 25, or 40 once the quota is met.
Scuba, cave 3, drawn whole
Cave 3. 130 GEMS to open the exit, in 100 seconds. Each scores 20, or 30 once the quota is met.
Scuba, cave 4, drawn whole
Cave 4. 55 GEMS to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 55, or 75 once the quota is met.

Player hidden

Records 12 to 15. This world calls its treasure CUPS.

Player, cave 1, drawn whole
Cave 1. 20 CUPS to open the exit, in 90 seconds. Each scores 120, or 150 once the quota is met.
Player, cave 2, drawn whole
Cave 2. 35 CUPS to open the exit, in 100 seconds. Each scores 70, or 90 once the quota is met.
Player, cave 3, drawn whole
Cave 3. 30 CUPS to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 80, or 110 once the quota is met.
Player, cave 4, drawn whole
Cave 4. 33 CUPS to open the exit, in 100 seconds. Each scores 80, or 110 once the quota is met.

Music hidden

Records 20 to 23. This world calls its treasure NOTES.

Music, cave 1, drawn whole
Cave 1. 50 NOTES to open the exit, in 130 seconds. Each scores 40, or 55 once the quota is met.
Music, cave 2, drawn whole
Cave 2. 30 NOTES to open the exit, in 90 seconds. Each scores 80, or 100 once the quota is met.
Music, cave 3, drawn whole
Cave 3. 30 NOTES to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 80, or 100 once the quota is met.
Music, cave 4, drawn whole
Cave 4. 40 NOTES to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 45, or 70 once the quota is met.

Luck hidden

Records 28 to 31. This world calls its treasure CLUBS.

Luck, cave 1, drawn whole
Cave 1. 15 CLUBS to open the exit, in 130 seconds. Each scores 220, or 250 once the quota is met.
Luck, cave 2, drawn whole
Cave 2. 11 CLUBS to open the exit, in 130 seconds. Each scores 250, or 300 once the quota is met.
Luck, cave 3, drawn whole
Cave 3. 30 CLUBS to open the exit, in 140 seconds. Each scores 70, or 90 once the quota is met.
Luck, cave 4, drawn whole
Cave 4. 65 CLUBS to open the exit, in 145 seconds. Each scores 45, or 60 once the quota is met.

Miner hidden

Records 36 to 39. This world calls its treasure JEWELS.

Miner, cave 1, drawn whole
Cave 1. 16 JEWELS to open the exit, in 140 seconds. Each scores 160, or 180 once the quota is met.
Miner, cave 2, drawn whole
Cave 2. 24 JEWELS to open the exit, in 140 seconds. Each scores 90, or 110 once the quota is met.
Miner, cave 3, drawn whole
Cave 3. 57 JEWELS to open the exit, in 110 seconds. Each scores 50, or 60 once the quota is met.
Miner, cave 4, drawn whole
Cave 4. 1 JEWELS to open the exit, in 180 seconds. Each scores 5000, or 1000 once the quota is met.