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Hollow Knight is the best first buy for most Steam players looking for an indie metroidvania: it is the genre’s clearest reference point, costs US$14.99 at list price in the United States, and has about 96% positive reviews from more than 500,000 Steam reviewers. Choose Hollow Knight: Silksong if you already enjoy demanding combat and want a newer, tougher follow-up; pick another game if you want gentler movement, short runs, or co-op. The recommendations below are based on what kind of exploration and combat you want, not just a review-score sort.
At a glance
| Name | Best for | Key spec | Free plan / price | Platforms | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollow Knight | A first metroidvania and a huge, melancholy world | 96% positive from about 508,000 Steam reviews; Steam Deck Verified | US$14.99 list | Windows, macOS, Linux | November 2026 |
| Hollow Knight: Silksong | A tougher sequel with more emphasis on combat | Very Positive; 89% of 391,557 reviews in one November snapshot; Steam Deck Verified | US$19.99 list | Windows, macOS, Linux | November 2026 |
| Dead Cells | Short, replayable action runs | 97% positive from about 157,000 reviews; Steam Deck Verified | US$24.99 list | Windows, macOS, Linux | November 2026 |
| Nine Sols | Precise parries and demanding boss fights | 94% positive from about 41,000 reviews; Story Mode difficulty adjustments | US$29.99 list | Windows, macOS | November 2026 |
| ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights | Spirit-based combat and a somber world | 93% positive from 43,506 reviews; Steam Deck Verified | US$24.99 list; a source snapshot showed US$9.99 on 13 November | Not established in the cited platform notes | November 2026 |
| Blasphemous | Gothic atmosphere and punishing melee combat | 90% positive from about 55,500 reviews; Steam Deck Verified | US$24.99 list | Windows, macOS, Linux | November 2026 |
Prices are US Steam figures, not promises of the price in every country or at checkout; sale prices can change. “Checked November 2026” refers to the research snapshots, not a live store check. Review percentages and counts are dated snapshots and should not be compared as if collected at the same moment. The recommendations and store details are drawn from Predy Media’s Steam shortlist and Gamescape’s buyer’s guide.
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What is the best metroidvania game on Steam?
For most people buying one game, start with Hollow Knight. It combines a large, interconnected world, unlockable movement, secrets, and challenging bosses at a lower US list price than most of the other established picks. Its Steam page lists a 24 February 2017 release, and the game is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
That recommendation is not a claim that every player will prefer its deliberately opaque opening. Early on, the game gives you no destination marker, and you must find your way through Hallownest by exploring. Benches save progress; defeating enemies earns Geo, and death leaves a Shade that you must defeat to recover what you dropped. The nail is your basic weapon, while movement abilities open routes through previously inaccessible areas. The game has 40 charms to modify your build, and its completion percentage can reach 112%. The four free content packs are Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood, and Godmaster; the last adds five Pantheons, including a final boss gauntlet.
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As a review signal, Hollow Knight is unusually well supported by a large sample. Predy Media’s 29 October 2026 Steam-derived snapshot reports 96% positive from 507,562 all-language reviews; a separate 10 November snapshot reports 96% from 508,390. A fair shorthand is about 96% positive from a little over half a million Steam reviews. An English-only slice is reported at 97% of about 186,000 reviews, so do not mix that language-specific denominator with the all-language total.
Team Cherry co-founders Ari Gibson and William Pellan said Hollow Knight had sold around 15 million copies across platforms since 2017, as reported by Nintendo Life’s account of the Bloomberg interview. The developers’ reported split was 2.8 million copies before Silksong was announced in 2019 and about 12 million more afterward. That is a historical, all-platform figure reported in August 2025, not a current Steam-only sales total.
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Should you buy Hollow Knight: Silksong instead?
Buy Silksong if you already know you like difficult combat, or if you have finished the original and want a fresh kingdom to explore. It is a sequel, not a replacement for Hollow Knight: you play Hornet in Pharloom, moving upward toward a citadel rather than descending through Hallownest. It launched on 4 September 2025, costs US$19.99 at the US list price in the cited November snapshot, and supports Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Silksong is the more expensive and more demanding first purchase for many newcomers. Steam recommends a gamepad, though the game has full controller support; it is single-player. The Steam Deck badge is Verified. Review figures need a little care: the Steam Web API snapshot cited by RageQuit.gg on 12 November 2026 showed Very Positive, 89% positive from 391,557 reviews. Another November source showed a separate cluster near 426,000 reviews at about 90%, while an English-language slice was reported at 93% of 147,354. These are different snapshots and review-language groupings; do not combine them into one total.
The lower all-language review ratio than Hollow Knight’s has not kept Silksong from becoming a landmark release: it won Steam’s 2025 Game of the Year and Best Game You Suck At. Valve’s awards drew 43.8 million votes across all categories, not 43.8 million votes for Silksong. VGC’s awards recap reports the result.
There is no official Silksong unit-sales total in the available sources. Third-party estimates conflict sharply, so neither an estimated copy count nor estimated gross revenue is a reliable answer to “how many has it sold?” Use the confirmed award and dated review snapshots instead of presenting estimates as official sales.
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Which metroidvania is best for beginners?
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition is the gentler on-ramp among the prominent choices here. It offers difficulty modes, backtracking support, fast travel between Spirit Wells, and Soul Links that let you choose a respawn point. Some escape sequences prevent placing a Soul Link, so a mistake there can still send you back to the last valid one.
The Ori games are a useful fit for players who prioritize smooth movement and story, but there is an indie-label caveat: Moon Studios developed them, and the cited store-page material carries an Xbox Game Studios publishing credit. They are worth mentioning in a buyer’s guide, but should not be passed off as unambiguously self-published indie picks. The Definitive Edition is listed at US$19.99 in the cited US snapshot, has 94% positive from 63,515 reviews, and is Steam Deck Verified. Its reported platform is Windows only.
Hollow Knight is still a good first game if you are comfortable learning by wandering. If its map ambiguity or boss difficulty sounds frustrating, start with Ori instead. Nine Sols and Blasphemous are more likely to put a newcomer off: both lean hard into demanding combat, and Blasphemous adds instant-death spikes and pits.
Which game fits the way you like to play?
Use the kind of moment you want from the game to choose a second pick. The category matters more than a one-point difference in review percentage.
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| If you want… | Start with… | Then consider… |
|---|---|---|
| A huge world to get lost in | Hollow Knight | Hollow Knight: Silksong |
| Fluid movement and story | Ori and the Will of the Wisps | Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition |
| Loot, builds, and a castle | Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | Blasphemous |
| Hard, precise boss fights | Nine Sols | Blasphemous 2 |
| Secrets and puzzle-box exploration | ANIMAL WELL | Axiom Verge |
| Short, repeatable sessions | Dead Cells | Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition |
| Playing locally with a friend | Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition | Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night |
The original is usually the better starting point when a sequel continues its story, though the sequels in this list can be played alone. Most of these games are single-player; check the specific game’s store details if co-op is essential. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition is the clearest couch co-op pick: it supports shared or split-screen co-op and Remote Play Together. Bloodstained offers same-screen and online co-op, PvP, and Remote Play Together, but its mix of publisher and studio credits makes it a side-door recommendation rather than a pure indie-core pick.
What does metroidvania mean?
A metroidvania is built around one large, connected map where abilities, items, or tools unlock routes that were closed earlier. Backtracking is part of the design: a new power may reveal a shortcut, a secret, or an entire branch of the map. Many games add character growth, equipment choices, and bosses that guard new abilities.
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A roguelite has a different central loop: you make repeated runs and keep some permanent progress after a run ends. A Souls-like in this context usually means demanding, pattern-based combat where patience and timing matter more than button-mashing. Games can mix these structures, but the label “metroidvania” on Steam is broad. Steam Page Analyzer’s September 2026 tag snapshot counted 3,382 games carrying Steam’s Metroidvania tag, including unreleased pages; the tag is not a guarantee that every game follows the interconnected-map definition.
Steam’s niche is also crowded. That snapshot counted 291 tagged releases in 2025 and 223 through 27 September 2026, 9% more than during the same weeks of 2025. Those counts describe Steam’s tag, not a curated list of games that all fit the same definition. A strict November 2026 shortlist that required both at least 90% positive reviews and 500 reviews included Dead Cells, Hollow Knight, both Ori games, Nine Sols, ENDER LILIES, and Blasphemous—but not Silksong. That cutoff reflects a percentage threshold, not a verdict that Silksong is a worse purchase.
Is Dead Cells a metroidvania or a roguelite?
It is both a roguelite and a metroidvania-inspired action game, but its run-based structure makes it a poor substitute if what you want is one continuous expedition. You explore a changing island and castle, gather weapons, and restart from a prison when you die. There are no checkpoints in the conventional long-world sense; permanent unlocks carry between runs, while the run itself is meant to end and begin again.
Dead Cells is the strongest choice here for short sessions and replaying combat with different weapons. Its review snapshot is 97% positive from about 157,000 all-language reviews, and its US list price is US$24.99. The five Boss Stem Cell difficulty levels raise the challenge after a clear; at level four, healing flasks no longer refill. It is developed by Motion Twin, has Steam Workshop support, and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Its official Castlevania DLC adds another reason to choose it if you want a genre blend rather than a single map to master.
What are the best other indie metroidvanias on Steam?
Nine Sols is the combat specialist. You play Yi against the nine Sols ruling New Kunlun. Timed parries build Qi, and talismans turn internal damage into real damage. The developers call the hand-drawn blend of cyberpunk, Taoism, and East Asian myth “Taopunk.” It is a harsh first metroidvania, but Story Mode is a meaningful difficulty valve: the cited guide says it can raise damage dealt to 995% and lower damage taken to 1%. There is a rest point before each boss, but you cannot place your own map markers, and there is no invincibility period after a knockdown. The game has 94% positive from about 41,000 reviews, is Steam Deck Verified, and is listed for Windows and macOS.
ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights gives you a different combat setup: Lily does not swing a weapon herself, but equips purified spirits in six slots. Defeating powerful foes can grant movement abilities that open old rooms. It has 25 abilities, three endings on one save, and a map that labels rooms without showing your exact position within them. You keep collected items on death, though contact damage and respawning enemies can wear down exploration. Predy’s 13 November page snapshot showed a US$9.99 sale price against a US$24.99 list price; verify the price at checkout because that discount is time-sensitive. Its follow-up, ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist, is another option if you want a newer world and more than 30 skills, but the cited November price information is not a US Steam list price.
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Blasphemous is a gothic, combat-first choice. As the Penitent One in Cvstodia, you use the sword Mea Culpa, parry, and execute enemies. Rosary beads provide build choices; death does not remove Tears of Atonement, and church donations can unlock travel between Prie Dieu altars. The trade-off is a punishing world: spikes and pits kill in one hit, and some quests can close if you advance in the wrong order. It is listed at US$24.99, with 90% positive from about 55,500 reviews. Choose the first game if its story matters; choose Blasphemous 2 if you mainly want more weapon options.
ANIMAL WELL is for secrets and puzzles, not a conventional combat power fantasy. Its design emphasizes vulnerability and items with multiple uses; the main game is only the start of its deeper hidden puzzles. The developer is Billy Basso, and the cited platform note lists Windows. No November US list price was established in the supplied price snapshots, so check Steam rather than relying on an older regional price. Axiom Verge is a useful side door for players drawn to classic Metroid-style exploration: its glitch tool can corrupt enemies and the map. It supports Windows and Linux.
Environmental Station Alpha is another retro exploration option, with a station setting and many bosses. Its Windows, macOS, and Linux builds are listed, but the Mac version lacks gamepad and Steam Cloud support. Well Dweller is a newer name to watch rather than a proven all-time pick: a September 2026 snapshot showed 97% positive from 1,121 reviews at US$19.99. That is an encouraging early signal, but a roughly thousand-review sample is not the same depth of evidence as a long-established game’s much larger review base. Deck compatibility was not established in the cited material.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which of these metroidvanias run on Mac or Linux?
According to the cited store-page notes, Hollow Knight, Silksong, Dead Cells, Blasphemous, and Environmental Station Alpha are listed for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Nine Sols is listed for Windows and macOS; Axiom Verge for Windows and Linux. The cited notes list both Ori games, ENDER LILIES, Blasphemous 2, Bloodstained, ANIMAL WELL, Guacamelee!, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown as Windows-only. Treat those as the platform details reported by the guides, and confirm the current Steam system requirements before purchasing.
For Steam Deck, the cited compatibility snapshots mark Hollow Knight, Silksong, Dead Cells, Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition, Nine Sols, ENDER LILIES, and Blasphemous as Verified. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is Playable, not Verified. Those badges describe compatibility status; they are not a measure of game quality.
How should you compare review scores and prices?
Read the positive percentage and the number of reviews together, and keep the date and language scope attached. A 97% score from about 157,000 Dead Cells reviews is a much larger sample than a 97% score from about 1,100 reviews on a recent release. Review counts move over time, and some guides report all-language reviews while others quote an English-only slice. For example, Silksong has November snapshots near 391,000 reviews at 89% and another source near 426,000 at about 90%; those figures should remain separately labeled, not averaged.
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The list prices in the table are US prices from dated Steam-derived sources, not universal prices. Steam regional pricing varies; Silksong’s cited November examples ranged from US$19.99 in the United States to local prices that converted to roughly US$9–$10 in India and Brazil, while the euro-area figure converted to more than the US price. Use the price shown for your account’s region. Do not treat a different country’s price as your own, and do not change account region to chase a price.
Sales can make a large difference. Silksong’s recorded US low was US$14.99 on 6 July 2026, a 25% discount, while the two Ori games have also appeared in deep seasonal sales in the cited regional snapshots. The listed US price for Ori and the Will of the Wisps is US$29.99, but an older French Steam promotion showed €2.99; that expired sale price is not a current US offer. Check the official Steam store page and cart on the day you buy.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFor a copy that belongs in your Steam library, purchase through Steam. A key for a different storefront is not a Steam license, and an account login borrowed or sold by someone else is not ownership of a game on your own account. Lower prices on unofficial account offers can leave you without access if the account is reclaimed. A Steam sale is the straightforward way to pay less while keeping the purchase tied to the account that will play it.
How we picked these recommendations
This guide prioritizes games that fit the connected-map metroidvania definition, have substantial positive Steam-review histories where the sources provide them, and offer meaningfully different reasons to buy. The order puts the most broadly suitable first purchase ahead of more specialized choices. It does not rank every game by review percentage: a roguelite’s short runs, a puzzle-first game, a punishing parry game, and a co-op pick answer different buyer needs. Games with broader publisher associations are identified as side doors rather than quietly labeled indie; the list also distinguishes mature review samples from promising but newer releases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I play Hollow Knight before Silksong, or do I need the story first?
You can start Silksong on its own, but the sequel follows Hornet and returns to the series’ world and style. Playing Hollow Knight first gives more context for the setting and makes it easier to judge whether you want a harder follow-up.
Does Hollow Knight have an official sales total on Steam?
No Steam-only unit total is established in the cited sources. The reported figure of around 15 million copies is Team Cherry’s all-platform total reported in August 2025, not a current Steam count.
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No. Verified is Valve’s compatibility status for Steam Deck, not a performance guarantee for every other handheld or PC configuration. Check the current Steam listing and device-specific requirements if you plan to play elsewhere.
Can I play Steam games bought for another region on my account?
Regional prices and purchase conditions vary, and a local price shown for another country does not establish that a purchase can be redeemed on your account. Check the store page for your account’s actual region and the license type before paying.
