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What is a Metroidvania?
In a Metroidvania, the world is usually a connected map rather than a run of completely separate levels. As you explore, you encounter routes you cannot yet use. Later, a new movement ability, tool, or other upgrade lets you pass an obstacle and continue into areas that were out of reach.
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That pattern makes backtracking purposeful: the game gives you a reason to revisit a place because you can now do something there that you could not do before. Secrets, action combat, environmental storytelling, and a sense of gradually understanding the world often accompany the structure, but individual games emphasize them differently. Bandai Namco’s 2025 developer perspective describes gated progression, backtracking, and environmental storytelling as hallmarks, not mandatory ingredients in every game.
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A practical way to recognize one is to ask whether exploration of a connected world and the acquisition of abilities that change where you can go are central to play. If they are, “Metroidvania” is a reasonable description, even if the game bends familiar conventions. This is a useful guide for players, not an official industry standard.
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The core loop
- Explore. Move through connected areas and learn how they fit together.
- Find a capability. Gain a movement skill, tool, or other upgrade that expands what your character can do.
- Recognize a new route. A passage or obstacle that blocked progress earlier may now be manageable.
- Return and push farther. Revisit the relevant area, open the route, and continue exploring.
Some games make the gates strict; others let players find optional upgrades or take different routes. The important feature is not simply that a game has a map or unlockable abilities, but that exploring and gaining capabilities meaningfully expand access to its world.
What is common but not required?
- Backtracking: returning to known areas is common, but how often the game asks for it varies.
- Secrets and discovery: hidden routes and rewards often complement exploration.
- Environmental storytelling: the setting may convey parts of the story through places and details rather than only direct explanation.
- RPG systems: inventories, shops, statistics, experience, or level-ups appear in some games, especially Castlevania-influenced ones, but are not necessary for the broad modern use of the label.
- Side-scrolling 2D action: this is the familiar shape of the genre, though some writers also apply the term to structurally similar 3D games.
Where did the name Metroidvania come from?
“Metroidvania” combines Metroid and Castlevania. Bandai Namco’s 2025 account points to Nintendo’s Metroid (1986) and Konami’s Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997) as the reference points behind the familiar name.
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Those two series are useful landmarks, not the whole history of the design. Penguin Random House’s catalog for Jeremy Parish’s The History of Metroidvania: Decade One—1980–1990 describes a wider range of influences and early examples that predate those games.
The exact first use of the word is not established by the available accounts. In a 2025 PLAYISM roundtable, creator Koji Igarashi recalled first encountering the term during the 2015 Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Kickstarter campaign. He said he initially avoided using it because he was concerned it might be another company’s trademark, and used “IGAvania” instead. That recollection tells us when Igarashi encountered the term, not who coined it or precisely when.
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Why does the genre label have fuzzy edges?
There is no settled boundary that every player, writer, or developer applies. A Game Developer design text describes common usage as non-linear 2D platforming with item- or ability-based progression, while noting that some writers include 3D games such as Metroid Prime and Batman: Arkham Asylum. Narrower definitions may put more weight on side-scrolling, a particular kind of continuous map, strict ability gates, or RPG systems. Game designer Tom Happ’s 2015 explanation, for example, centers on a side-scrolling action-adventure where items let the player overcome obstacles in a continuous map by returning to earlier areas.
Developers do not have to use the term for their own work. In an interview hosted on Steam, Team Cherry’s William Pellen said the studio shied away from describing Hollow Knight as a Metroidvania in its marketing. The label is a way to discuss a family resemblance in design; it is not a required declaration from a game’s creators.
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How do Metroidvanias differ from one another?
Games can share the exploration-and-ability loop while feeling quite different. Use these comparisons to work out whether a particular game suits you; they are practical questions, not a standardized rating system.
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| What to compare | What to look for |
|---|---|
| World structure | Are routes tightly gated, or can you choose among more open or optional paths? Team Cherry described reducing hard gates in Hollow Knight and making some power-ups optional in its Steam interview. |
| Navigation and backtracking | How often will you revisit familiar areas, and how clearly does the game help you stay oriented? |
| Progression | Does progress mainly come from movement abilities and tools, RPG statistics and levels, or a mix? The balance varies across examples discussed in the Game Developer design text and the PLAYISM roundtable. |
| Combat and challenge | Consider how demanding encounters feel and whether you are comfortable learning through repeated attempts. In the PLAYISM roundtable, designer Shutaro Iida praised Ori and the Will of the Wisps’ challenge and retry flow; that is his assessment, not a universal recommendation. |
| Presentation and atmosphere | World, visual style, and storytelling can differ substantially without changing the underlying exploration structure. |
How can a beginner choose a Metroidvania?
Start with the parts of the loop you enjoy, rather than looking for one definitive “best” first game. The examples discussed in the sources include Metroid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Hollow Knight, Cave Story, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Shadow Labyrinth, Bloodstained, and Axiom Verge. They illustrate how widely tone, progression, and challenge can vary; the examples do not establish a consensus ranking.
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- If revisiting places sounds satisfying, look for descriptions that emphasize a dense connected map and ability-gated routes.
- If navigation friction puts you off, pay attention to how often the game expects backtracking and what map or travel support it offers.
- If you prefer character-building systems, check whether the game includes RPG progression such as statistics, experience, or levels rather than assuming every Metroidvania does.
- If combat challenge matters most, look for specific descriptions of encounter difficulty and retrying instead of relying on the genre label alone.
- If atmosphere is your priority, compare settings and presentation; those can differ even when the world structure feels familiar.
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