Turbo Pudding

JungalooLevel secrets

What’s waiting inside Hollowheart

· The Turbo Pudding team · 5 min read

Inside the warm brown hollow of a great tree, Tavo, a boy with a spiky black topknot, a yellow tunic and a woven basket on his back, leaps up through the air with his knees tucked, while below him the creaky log he just left drops toward the floor with no ropes holding it and a puff of white dust beside it; up to the left, another log hangs on two ropes in front of an oval hole onto green treetops, with a teal gem floating over it, and the end of a third log with a gem pokes in at the top left; carved spirals, amber blobs of sap and tiers of pale shelf fungus cover the bark, and a small carved wooden post with a green sprout on top stands at the bottom right

Level 2 of Jungaloo is Hollowheart, and it goes up instead of across. Tavo starts down among the roots of the great hollow tree and climbs to the hall at the top, where Clatterhorn waits. Outside, it’s noon. Inside, it’s a warm dusk, with shafts of sun falling through holes in the trunk, pollen and fireflies in the air and the Old Gardeners’ carved spirals on the bark. This Tuesday: what the tree throws at you as you climb, and what it keeps for anyone who looks around.

The numbers

Hollowheart holds 99 gems, and the gate at the top opens at 40. It also hides three Wishseeds and one secret room. Seven checkpoint flowers line the climb, and each one brings Tavo back up to three hearts and 10 fruits.

The clock starts at six minutes, and one hourglass in the tree adds 30 seconds. If time runs out, nothing bad happens: the clock simply counts on. Every second still left on it when you finish is worth 10 points. In comfort mode, there’s no clock at all.

Creaky logs and crumbly bark

The first sign, right at the roots, sets the tone: “Creaky logs drop soon after you land on them. Keep moving!” Soon means a little under half a second. The tree plays fair, though. About six seconds after you step on a log, a new one is let down on its ropes in the same spot, so a climb never runs out of steps. Three of the level’s six creaky logs climb one above the other in the heart of the tree. That’s Tavo at the top of this post, leaping for the next one while the log he just left heads for the floor.

Bark works the same way, just a little slower. A strip of crumbling bark shakes for 0.6 seconds after you land, drops away and grows back 4 seconds later. Watch for splinters. They aren’t solid, so you can drop right through a patch of them, but every touch costs a heart.

The locals

Most of Hollowheart’s locals give you a moment’s warning. Pill woodlice are round on top, so they’re safe to stomp. Tree crickets fold their long back legs before they spring. A fuzzy caterpillar hangs on a silk thread over the path, and the thread trembles before it drops. Once it lands, it waits about a second and climbs back up.

On the mossy floor among the roots of the great tree, Tavo, a boy with a spiky black topknot, a yellow tunic and a woven basket on his back, walks to the right past a teal gem, with little pale stars around his basket from a gem he just picked up, while a fuzzy green caterpillar with black stripes and pale bristles drops down on a white silk thread right onto the top of his hair; behind them are a big carved spiral on the dark brown bark, a long amber drip of sap, a tall stack of pale shelf fungus and, at the top right, an oval opening onto green treetops
Searched “caterpillar on a string.” It found you first.

A flying squirrel sits on a shelf fungus with its gliding skin folded at its sides and a supply of acorns. It aims each one at the spot where Tavo stands, so keep moving. There are fruit bats, too, and a tokay gecko in a knot-hole that greets you with a loud “to-KAY!” before it lunges.

Inside the great tree, a gray flying squirrel with a white belly, round ears, a dark ring around its big purple eye and a flat gray tail sits on a wide pale shelf fungus up on the right, holding an acorn to its chest, while another acorn spins through the air toward the left; down on the grassy floor at the bottom left, Tavo, in his yellow tunic with a woven basket on his back, looks up with a wide-eyed grin, a small purple bat hangs upside down from the bark above him, a teal gem glows in the bottom left corner and an oval opening on the left shows green treetops under a pale sky
Search: “can flying squirrels aim?” Ask the one on the fungus.

Then there’s the little rhinoceros beetle. When it spots Tavo on its own level, it scrapes a leg, lowers its horn and charges. Once it’s running, it doesn’t steer. A wall stops it with a bonk, and it stands there seeing stars for about a second: your best moment. It’s also the toughest of the small locals.

In a sunny corner of the great tree, a little brown rhinoceros beetle with a shiny round shell and one curved horn stands dizzy at the foot of a mossy step of bark, with three gold stars and two small sparkles around its head, while Tavo, in his yellow tunic with a basket on his back, jumps high above it with his eyes squeezed shut; on the left, a wide pale shelf fungus with a teal gem over it stands in front of a tall opening onto pale sky, and little orange mushrooms grow in the grass along the floor
People also ask: do beetles see stars, or just walls?

Bees and lianas

Higher up, a sign gives fair warning: “Bees come and go. Wait till the swarm flies off!” Two swarms buzz around the tops of the lianas there. Each one stays for 2.5 seconds, leaves for 2 and hums 0.6 seconds before it returns. The two are out of step by a couple of seconds, and a sting costs a heart, so listen for the hum and time your swing.

Tavo, in his yellow tunic with a basket on his back, swings on a long green liana inside the great tree, leaning back with his feet out and a trail of pale stars behind him, past an oval opening onto green treetops; just ahead of him another liana hangs straight down from the bark, and around its top a loose cloud of a few dozen small striped bees is buzzing; a teal gem floats by his feet, and tiers of pale shelf fungus, carved spirals and glowing amber blobs of sap cover the bark around them
Search history: “bees,” “bee timing,” “is 2.5 seconds long?”

Near the top, four lianas in a row cross a deep shaft with a band of splinters in it. A missed catch costs a heart and a climb back up, not the whole level.

A little help from friends

Old Lento keeps two camps in the tree, one low down and one just before the hall. At the first, his priorities are clear: “Ah… a… visitor. Sit. The tea is… almost… ready.” Keep landing back at the flower by his camp, and he helps. After three tries, he offers Tavo a golden heart that takes the next blow, and after six, he offers a lift to the next flower.

Captain Bellows keeps two feather-stones in the tree. Push Up on one, and he points you toward something you haven’t found yet. That’s as much of a hint as you’ll get from us.

What we won’t tell you

We’re not saying where the Wishseeds are, or where the door to the secret room is. The game’s own words: “Wishseeds. The Old Gardeners hid them for a reason.” We’ll only say the room is worth the detour. Fourteen of the level’s 99 gems are in there, counting a big gem worth five, along with a heart and a leaf of life, which adds one more heart for the rest of the level. It also has the only honey in the tree you can swim in.

The first three levels and the first boss of Jungaloo, Hollowheart and Clatterhorn included, are free to play in your browser at jungaloo.com. The full game, all ten levels, is $4.99, paid once. More on the Jungaloo page.

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