Crystal Caves is a side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Apogee Software for IBM PC compatibles. The game is divided into three episodes with the first distributed as shareware and the other two available for purchase. Designer Frank Maddin said the method "worked pretty well for the time." Crystal Caves was inspired by the 1982 Atari 8-bit family game Miner 2049er. Plot Mylo Steamwitz is a down-on-the-luck space trader. Each game in the series follows Mylo going to the planet Altair to collect enough crystals from its mines to finance his latest get-rich-quick scheme. Volume 1: Troubles with Twibbles Twibbles are the hottest new pet in the galaxy, so Mylo hopes to earn enough crystals to buy a twibble farm. He succeeds and buys his farm. However, twibbles breed so quickly that the market is soon over-saturated, and Mylo is stuck with a planet overrun with twibbles. Volume 2: Slugging It Out After selling his twibble farm for a loss, Mylo heads back to Altair. A recent war has created a demand for medicinal slugs, so now Mylo wants to buy a slug farm. He collects enough crystals to do so, and for a while, business is booming. However, the slugs soon burrow their way into an abandoned salt mine and perish, depriving Mylo of his stock. Volume 3: Mylo Versus the Supernova A late-night infomercial inspires Mylo to quit farming and try his hand at real estate. He collects enough crystals to buy an entire solar system from Rip Eweoff. Mylo plans to turn the system into a vacation resort: tropical getaways on the inner planets, ski slopes on the outer planets, and luxury hotels in the middle. However, mere minutes after he buys the solar system, the star goes supernova, destroying the system. As Mylo looks at the nebula where the solar system once was, he comes up with an idea. He builds a restaurant overlooking the nebula. Thanks to its spectacular view of the nebula, the restaurant becomes the hottest spot in the galaxy, and Mylo finally makes his millions. Gameplay The game begins in a main level containing the entrances to 16 caves. To complete the game, Mylo must collect all the crystals in all the caves. Mylo can complete the caves in whichever order he chooses. Mylo can quit a cave at any time, but in doing so, will negate all progress he made