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One subtlety is that if a down movement is initiated while standing on a guard's head, or briefly touching the guard's head during free fall, the consequences are fatal. In a few levels, it is necessary to use a falling guard as a bridge to reach an otherwise unreachable area. Sometimes it is necessary to liberate a trapped guard by digging while standing on his head, but then moving rapidly in the opposite direction when the guard begins marching to freedom. Both forms of contact are necessary to solve some levels. It is also possible to make this contact while both the guard and the player are in free fall, since the player not only runs faster than the guards, but also falls faster moreover, it is possible to survive the feet-to-head contact while a guard is standing on a platform and begins to move. This is what enables the player to walk over guards who are temporarily stuck in a hole that has been dug. The player may come into contact with a guard directly from above, with the stick figure's feet touching the guard's head. Mastering the game involves developing the intuition to predict the movement of the guards. In general, depending on their exact positioning relative to Lode Runner, the guards sometimes appear to be repelled.

Sometimes, when the player and a guard are on the same ladder, for instance, the guard will move away from the player. The guards do not always take the shortest path to the player, but can also move in counterintuitive ways. While the player's character's position changes, enemies tend to move alternatively, moving away from Lode Runner. The player's character can fall from arbitrary heights without any injury but cannot jump, and players can trap themselves in pits from which the only escape is to abort the level, costing a life, and begin again. Should a guard catch the player, one life is subtracted, and the current level restarts. The player starts with five lives each level completion awards an extra life. This kind of digging is involved in solving many of the levels. However, exceptions to this rule arise when the player digs from the position of standing on a ladder, or hanging from a hand-to-hand bar, which allows the player to repeatedly dig and descend one row.

In order to dig through multiple layers of bricks, the player must create a gap whose width is at least equal to the number of layers. The player can dig a hole only to either side of his position and may not dig directly beneath his own feet. Floors may contain trapdoors, through which the player and guards will fall, and bedrock, through which the player cannot dig. Unlike guards, the player's character may not climb up out of a hole, and will be killed if it fills before he can escape by other means. A trapped guard who cannot escape a hole before it fills is consumed, immediately respawning in a random location at the top of the level. Holes dug by the player fill themselves in after a short delay. Should a guard be carrying a bar of gold when he falls into a hole, he will drop it and the player can pick it up. The player can dig holes into floors to temporarily trap guards and may safely walk atop any who have fallen into holes. Guards can pick up gold bars by running over them, but any individual guard may carry no more than one bar at a time. Levels have a multi-story, brick platform motif, with ladders and suspended hand-to-hand bars that offer multiple ways to travel. There are 150 levels in the game, which progressively challenge players' problem-solving abilities or reaction times. After collecting all the gold, the player must reach the top of the screen to reach the next level. Sorry, no sound on mobile devices.The player controls a stick figure who must collect all the gold in a level while avoiding guards who try to catch the player. If you have a fast, modern computer these games will run very smoothly. Game speed and emulation only runs as good as your computer or mobile phone. No plug-in is required in your web browser, but the emulator does require a modern web browser. These games are being emulated natively in Javascript.

If you really need help or instructions playing this game, we have the The Official Nintendo Player’s Guide from 1987 to help you out. If you grew up in the 80's you shouldn't need additional gameplay instructions. On mobile phones and Iphone use the gameplay control buttons shown on your screen (only on mobile) to play and start the game. On a computer you can click the Game Window Size button to rotate between default, 1.5X and 2.X game window size. If you are a little tech savvy, we also offer all theseĬlick on the game window and hit the ENTER key to start the game (you might have to hit start twice).
