First of all, if you're like me, then you probably didn't bother to look at this document until after trying to go through a few of the levels. There is some important stuff in here, so you better read on...

Even if you haven't tried the levels yet, like I would have, you should still read the descriptions of the levels to get a feel of them.

     #1. These are 2-player levels, and you CANNOT beat some of them with just one player. Some of them require teamwork, and most of them it's probably impossible to get through without losing a few lives. By no means feel obligated to be righteous and try to beat the whole set of levels without cheating. I'd put money on it that it's impossible. However, I would like to state that anything I have said or am going to say here cannot be held against me in court. OK?

     #2. You may not believe this, but every single level in this set is defeatable. OK, I know you may have spent hours, especially on a level like number 4, The Furnace, but do not give up! If you aren't sure where the last peice of gold or something is, feel free to open up these levels in editing mode. There are lots of surprises that are hidden. You are even welcome to change the levels and/or redistribute them, but I want to be given some credit for my ideas. I spent a lot of time working on these.

     #3. Of course, I want to give credit to Sierra for making such a great game, and the level building environment to make this sort of thing possible.

     #4. OK, I'll get down to the stuff. Here's a list of all the levels so far in the set, and a little description, and some helpful hints. Now, these hints and descriptions are by no means complete, or perfect, so if you need any detailed help, PLEASE email me at "forrest@camasnet.com". I'll be really helpful. I promise.

Level 1 (ParaBomb Squad):
This one is one of the teamwork ones. If you look at the level in the editor, you'll see that there is a double column of gold hidden in the dirt over on the right. Now, the idea is that one lode runner kills the monk up above that area, and then bombs to clear over to the solid rock. Then he jackhammers down, gets the gun, and lights off a bomb before going into the teleporter. This sets off a chain reaction of bombs, and before they are done both lode runners need to get up above the double column of gold and drop before the dirt comes back. If you miss some, the two lode runners can go to that place and do the duo blasting trick to get down to the gold. There's a lot of other fun in this level as well. This level can be done without losing any lives, in case you're up for a challenge!

Level 2 (The Changing of the Guard):
This one is indeed a good stumper. It not only requires teamwork, but also much careful thought on where to jackhammer, and where to zap. It is important to note that the whole far right section is a safe-house for you. However, be brave and don't just cower in their. Think of it as a supply shop. I can't give you very much advise about this level, you'll have to unravel this one yourself. Hint: you must get the jackhammer and get rid of the one peice of hard rock out in the open, so you can get the gold in the center. This may require a couple of suicide missions and a lot of fun. :)

Level 3 (Go for Your Gun!):
As the name implies, one goal of this level is to get the gun, though it is not a necessary tool to win. In friendly spirit, the two players should each try to be the first to get the gun. In the process, they will draw closer to winning this level. This one generally has a lot of fast action, and plenty of soft dirt to zap.

Level 4 (The Furnace):
Now this one here is a KILLER. I freely admit it. At first, I thought I'd made an unbeatable level, but after much excavation and a headache or two, plus some yelling at my little brother, we beat it. So it is possible, like I said up top. There are some very definite strategies for winning this one, but perhaps you want to figure them out for yourself... if so then stop HERE.

No? Well then, here they are. The names generally describe the level rather well... a furnace is about right. First of all, take your time at the beginning, and DON'T let the bombs all off right away. All the big bombs in the row are only to get you into trouble. You and your partner need to pick them all up and set them back down along the rope that goes across the top. This way, they will not go off in the explosion and cut off transportation routes. You can use them later, when you need them also. This moving of all the bombs, if you actually believe me and try it, also kills all of the monks and gets them stuck up in the cage up top. This is very important since you can excavate the gold without interference by those little red buggers. After this, all that's left is a WHOLE LOT OF DIGGING! Good luck. If you feel it's absolutely necessary, you may skip this level, by using the cheat menu... Don't even think twice about giving yourselves 20 lives before starting this one.

Level 5 (Chutes & Ladders):
This level isn't too bad, though it requires the players to die at least once each. Some things aren't what they look, but you should be able to get through this one pretty well on your own. The only hint is that you should either use a pick to fill in the bottom holes, or better yet, get a monk stuck there.

Level 6 (Team-work):
In this level, teamwork is a must. This is because each must work down is individual side, and then be able to give the other player his key, since it goes to the door on the other side. Or else they must go across or something. Anyway, it's a pretty hard one too. I specialize in the challenging. If you can't take the hard stuff, you'd better go find yourself some levels somewhere else. Here are the helpful hints for this one. Think carefully... if you go down exactly right the first time, you can get all the gold. Always think before you blast. Also, you will need some of those little bombs, so don't let them all off. If your partner refuses to be serious during this level, you're probably in trouble. Obviously, hidden latters appear on either side. Oh, and on the way down, make sure you give each monk a gold-check.

Level 7 (Bubble-Gum, and the (IN)finite loop):
Ugh. I personally can't stand that goop that makes it so you can't walk very fast, and you can't let off bombs so well, and you can't blast holes for monks to fall in. It's just horrible. Perhaps that's why I went and made this level a nightmare. You have two choices in this level, though many would not think of the second. The first is to slog your way down, blowing up monks, and carrying the key all the way down. The other, more tricky, but less mundane, way, is to go into the infinite loop, and by various timings, you can get in and out at the different levels, by standing on monk's heads while they are in mid-air. A real blast.

Level 8 (Kalamazoo):
No, I can't explain the name either. It's just what it is though. This one shouldn't be too hard. You can get into quarrels with your partner and spend a lot of lives here, but with good team work, it shouldn't take too long. Actually, after the Furnace, things quiet down a little bit. A nice thing to do in this level is to go up to the very top of the screen with a pick, and bombard monks or your partner with rocks from above.

Level 9 (Hippity-Hop):
This level's difficulty is in the restricted ability to get around in it. After going down from the top layer, it is not extremely easy to get back to the top. Hint: It's important that you know that the dirt above the jackhammer is fall-through dirt. Then you must zap away all the dirt above the hard dirt in the bottom right, and then jackhammer the remaining hard dirt to get to the gun and a piece of gold.

Level 10 (Jungle Gym-Jam-Joom of Doom):
This level is especially bad if your partner happens to be a fanatic about big bombs, as my brother is. He always lets them off in the exact wrong place and seems to gain satisfaction from the fact that it makes the level unbeatable, so we have to restart. This level can be monotonous because you have to get all the gold which is amongst the ropes over on the right, and then take the long trek up the section on the left to get to the last gold and the exit. Hint: the row under the row that you stand on in the beginning is sink hole dirt. This makes it easy to come out where you want. Also, in this level, you can try landing on top of a monk which is going across a wire. I think it makes them fall off when you do, but I'm not quite sure.

Level 11 (TeleKazam and Trikky Sync-wholes):
Now this level is really one where appearances can be deceiving. There is a bunch of fall-through dirt in places where you wouldn't expect, so often it's all right to dive in to dead end traps, when there's actually a way out. The "TeleKazam" is the part about all of the teleporters. And the "Sync-wholes" part should seem obvious as well. These strange spellings are purposeful, so please don't think my English is bad. Another important goal for this level is level is for each lode runner to get a gun. Yes, it is possible. I know, so you should try it.

Level 12 (Worlds within Worlds):
Appropriately named, though the screen is a little cluttered, it can be seen that this level has a large outside sort of area, with a few smaller box levels inside of it. I think you can get his one just by playing around with it for a while. Hint: when you come out of the teleporter at the top left, you can go over to the right one square to get into one of the "inside" worlds. Oh there's one hard part I should probably tell you... unless you want to figure it out yourself... No? Well, when you get into the inside world on the left, upper left that is of course, you move two spaces to the left, and while on the ladder, hit the down arrow key, or whatever to go down. That dirt falls through, and you can get that secret reserve there. Well now, that wasn't so hard, was it? Of course you could have figured it out yourself, but I understand... life is short, and answers need to be immediate.

Level 13 (Unlucky Thirteen Gulch!):
After getting this far, what else could I do but name this one Unlucky Thirteen Gulch. In my oppinion, getting all the way to #13 was quite an achievement. I hope you enjoy this one. I wouldn't call this one of the most challenging levels I've made, but I think it's a good one. Built with a big U-shaped playing field, it's good for a lot of fun. There are a few good things you can do if you get the timing on some of the bomb sequences right, like destroying all of the monks, and coming through to get the gold they're guarding. I know it's a painstaking affair getting all the gold by falling off the ropes up at the top of the screen, but if your partner helps out (Mine wouldn't!), it shouldn't take long. Hint: You will need to hang on a couple of ropes, while blasting dirt, up in the middlish, rightish, topish part, to get to the seem of gold, tools, and fun built into the U. Good luck. Of course, a bomb will get you in there too...

Level 14 Walk the Plank! (Red Robe's Treasure):
Perhaps kind of an after thought of the last one, I had to build a level which looked like a ship. I think it came out nicely too. It floats in a sea of teleporters, and has a sail made of rope. In this level, you sneak aboard the Pirate ship of the terrible Red Robe. You have come out of cover, and must loot the ship and escape through the wormhole through space which is found in the captain's cabin. There are lots of other sections. It's important to hit each one, I think, for one reason or another. This level is a little hard to navigate, and you will likely often find yourself trapped by the evil mates of the ship, wearing their usual red "Emperor of the evil Galactic Empire in Star Wars" suits. Hint: to get to the lowest compartment of the ship, where the main treasure galley is, you must go through certain teleporters that are on the row along the bottom. You'll have to experiment to find out which one(s).

Level 15 Hidden Laters (ladders):
This is the last one (PHEW!) and I know it's probably 2:30 in the morning (Ok, maybe you're not a fanatic, but I figured that most Lode Runner fan's are!), and you are really crabby, because you can't get through this one. If that's the case, then I have absolutely no sympathy for you! This one isn't all that hard. It can't even be half as hard as the Furnace. Not sticking the traditional, the last level is NOT the hardest, and it is not necessarily the best. This is actually because I'm planning to add more on to this set, so this won't end up being the last one! For now, however, it is the Finale. It will have to do. The title of this level is accurate, and you'll find, that if you get all the gold, navigation will become much, much nicer. You may have to use a few bombs and maybe a few suicides to get some of the gold under the ladder squares, but it's all possible I believe. Since I only made this one lately, it isn't tested completely.

If you have any questions, comments, etc. please email me. I'm happy to hear from you. And if you have any Lode Runner Levels you've made, then you can attach them to an email, and send them to me, or if they're on the web, I'd love to have the address, and I'll probably add the link to my own page, so other people can find it. If you have a Lode Runner site, it'd be great if you add a link to my site, too. Once again, I hope you enjoy these levels I've made.

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      \_____/        Forrest Sondahl (forrest@camasnet.com)