Lode Runner

MY LODE RUNNER LEVELS

I AM TNT!!! I am one of the craftier Lode Runner level designers that you will find. My levels are artful, tricky, impossible-seeming, and sometimes stunning in their beauty and brilliance. WILL YOU PLAY MY MANY AMAZING LEVELS. You should do so! THEY ARE DEPENDING ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW AND PREFERENCE PERHAPS THE GREATEST LODE RUNNER LEVELS OF ALL TIME

The first level set I made with The Legend Returns--The Gamut! (Formerly known as The Canon.)	Gamut.pzl	Screenshots
A great Lode Runner odyssey based loosely on an unfinished story about the Bluebird of Happiness.	Odyssey.pzl	Screenshots
The Sequence. Designed in college. Each level introduces a new element. Starts out very easy, gets extremely hard.	Sequence.pzl	Screenshots
A fabulous and tricky level set based on the Alphabet Planets my sister and I used to play make believe about as children.	Alphabet.pzl	Screenshots
You could see this file as a progression meant to teach the newish player new concepts... but the learning curve is rather firce! A hollow land.	Didactica.pzl	Screenshots
My latest compilation of purely puzzle-like levels and related Curiosities.	Curiosities.pzl	Screenshots
A set of five Easy Levels to warm you up.	Easy.pzl	Screenshots
A small file full of bizarre or over-the-top levels I call the Iguana.	Iguana.pzl	Screenshots
A cycle of tricky levels with one feature in common - the wrong world's musical theme fits better than the right one.	Wrongmusic.pzl	Screenshots
An epic journey across and under the ocean to where the deepest secrets are kept. My longest level set to date by far. Includes the wild mayhem of Bombland!	Oceanus.pzl	Screenshots
A dozen variations on a tricky little gem from Charlie Vermin's Beetlebrain Gantlet.	Short-Cuts.pzl	Screenshots
A small April Fools pack of extraordinarily tedious levels (and samplers).	WorstEver.pzl	Screenshots
A tribute set to and about my close friend Charlie, with a focus on his early RPG Maker games!	CharlieVermin.pzl	Screenshots
A diabolical tree maze with featured levels scattered throughout. Technically tied for my largest set! Includes a couple of my oldest levels.	Adventures.pzl	Screenshots

Lode Runner is one of the oldest action-puzzle arcade games. It was put out by Brøderbund in 1983 and subsequently ported hither and yon; I played it first on an early Macintosh version. You're a treasure hunter who climbs ladders, swings on bars, and notably digs holes for bad guys to fall in; the holes give the game its soul because they can also be used to carve your way through structures in complex ways. The game is confined to a rigid two-dimensional grid, making it ideal for easy user editing, which means it was the first game I ever played with a level editor... and you can believe I took full advantage!

In the 90s, Sierra put out awestriking updated and enhanced versions - Lode Runner: The Legend Returns and its sequel Lode Runner Online: Mad Monks' Revenge. These added a wide variety of amazing new elements that multiplied the gameplay possibilities by a sheer plethora. But these were for operating systems that have long since ceased to be supported. In recent years, some intrepid heroes from Australia have recreated the game in an open source version, making it freely available again. (Check out their Discord server here!) What a joy it was to revisit what I loved so much in my chilhood and well into my twenties! You can find instructions for installing the game and its excellent music and installing user levels at QuarkRobot's website. These .pzl files will work with either the old or new versions of the game.

My levels are on the puzzly side and on the artsy side. Also, some of them (but not all) are very difficult. If that appeals to you, and if you like Lode Runner (or think you might), please be my kindred spirit. Download the game, download my levels, play them and tell me what you think, and then send me your own!

In order to get people to play my levels, since 2024 I've been running a monthly contest called Ringcaat's 23 Skidoo. Each month I choose a level (or multiple levels) to feature and challenge people to beat. The first (or best) winner wins a prize such as a poem, a Steam game, or a custom-designed level. I was even brave enough to offer a watercolor painting to one winner even though I don't really paint; they had me pick a Lode Runner theme and this is what I came up with.

I've never focused on score or on the challenge of making it through a set without running out of lives. So with all of these level sets, feel free to take as many extra men as you like. The structure of the sets vary, but you'll probably have a better time if you start at the beginning and avoid jumping ahead, at least at first.

These level sets are listed in chronological order, with the exception of Easy.zip, which is listed first because you should play it first if you're not experienced with the game.

A few relevant links that aren't dead yet
QuarkRobot's website
(Lead developer of the new Definitive Edition)
Lode Runner Discord server
(The Discord server for the modern resurrection!)
Jason's Lode Runner archive
(The biggest and best fan site, with countless treasures. Though sadly no longer maintained.)
The Legend Returns Sierra Chest page
(Where the game's makers commemorate it.)

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