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GDC 2013: Punishing indie favourite Spelunky dropping into the PS Vita's cave this summer

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GDC 2013: Punishing indie favourite Spelunky dropping into the PS Vita's cave this summer
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It's official: unforgiving indie favourite Spelunky will be diving onto PS Vita this summer.

Mossmouth's compulsive - but cruel - platformer first prompted PC gamers to start singing its praises / tearing their hair out back in late 2008 when it appeared online in freeware form.

Though it may look like a standard 2D platformer at first glance, the game's randomly generated levels and permadeath mechanic could have been pulled straight from a roguelike.

Comprising 16 short levels, Spelunky can technically be completed within 30 minutes. However, the game's punishing difficulty and lack of save points can lead to numerous lost hours in pursuit of the end screen.

Spelunky co-creator Derek Yu believes - and we agree - that his game's short-burst gameplay structure is perfectly suited to the PS Vita.

Indie bundle

The confirmation of Spelunky's Vita port was made in a post on the US PlayStation Blog by SCEA VP for developer and publisher relations Adam Boyes.

In fact, Boyes published a quick list of all the upcoming indie games heading to Vita and PS3. Some of them, like Limbo, Hotline Miami, and Thomas Was Alone, have already been mentioned on these pages.

However, fans of all things independent and Vita can also look forward to playing 2D brawler Divekick, scrolling shmup Velocity Ultra, and spicy platformer Guacamelee! on their Sony handhelds in the not-too-distant future.

James Gilmour
James Gilmour
James pivoted to video so hard that he permanently damaged his spine, which now doubles as a Cronenbergian mic stand. If the pictures are moving, he's the one to blame.