Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
iTechGuides is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more
A Metroidvania is an exploration-focused action-adventure built around a connected world, routes gated by abilities or items, and meaningful returns to places you have already visited. You encounter a barrier, gain a capability that changes what your character can do, then revisit the barrier to open a route, shortcut, reward, or new region. The label is flexible rather than a strict checklist, but this combination of world structure and progression is its defining idea.
What is a Metroidvania?
The name blends Metroid and Castlevania, whose exploration-heavy entries established the pattern most people recognize today. In practical terms, a Metroidvania places the player in a persistent or interconnected map instead of a sequence of completely separate levels. Progress depends not only on defeating enemies or completing story objectives, but also on understanding how the world fits together.
A useful reader-facing formula is:
- Connected world: regions are linked into a navigable whole, often with loops, elevators, tunnels, or shortcuts.
- Capability-gated routes: an obstacle becomes passable only after the character obtains a relevant ability, item, or sometimes knowledge.
- Meaningful revisits: returning to a familiar location produces access, information, a reward, or a more efficient route.
These features can appear in different proportions. One game may emphasize precision platforming and movement powers; another may focus on combat equipment, environmental puzzles, or a large map with many optional branches. Developers and critics do not use one universally fixed checklist. Tom Happ, creator of Axiom Verge, described a narrower interpretation as a side-scrolling action-adventure in which obstacles on a continuous map can be overcome only after the player finds the required items and backtracks. That is a useful description of the core pattern, not a legal definition.
Recommended Free Tools
A game can therefore feel Metroidvania-like without its creators using the label, and a game carrying the label may minimize one element while strongly emphasizing the others.
#1 Best Overall
- Classic side-scrolling action, with all the modern trimmings. Dodge, dash and slash your way through even the most deadly adversaries.
- Tightly tuned 2D controls. Dodge, dash and slash your way through even the most deadly adversaries.
- Forge your own path! The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face and find your own way forward.
- An enormous cast of cute and creepy characters all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation.
- Leap into minds with the Dream Nail. Uncover a whole other side to the characters you meet and the enemies you face.
How the Metroidvania gameplay loop works
The genre turns progression into a cycle of observation, capability, and reinterpretation:
- Explore what is reachable. You move through the currently accessible portion of the map, fight enemies, inspect rooms, and notice passages that appear blocked or suspicious.
- Record an obstacle mentally or on the map. A sealed door, an overlarge gap, a hazardous surface, or a mechanism you cannot operate becomes a future possibility rather than a dead end.
- Acquire a new capability or clue. This may be a movement power, a tool, equipment, an access item, or knowledge that reveals how an existing object works.
- Apply the change. The new capability makes an earlier route usable or opens a branch in the area you are currently exploring.
- Revisit and update your map. You return through a familiar space, discover a connection or reward, and revise your understanding of where the world leads.
The important transformation is not simply that the character becomes stronger. The player’s interpretation of the world changes too. The passage was visible before, but its meaning was incomplete because the necessary capability or information was missing.
What are ability gates?
An ability gate is an obstacle whose solution depends on something the player obtains during progression. The gate is functional: acquiring the capability changes which parts of the world are accessible. A gap that cannot be crossed, a surface that cannot be traversed, or a device that cannot be activated can become a route once the appropriate power or tool is available.
There is no single mandatory ability shared by every game. The relevant question is whether progression changes the set of actions available to the player and whether those actions matter for navigation.
| Gate pattern | What the player notices | What changes later |
|---|---|---|
| Movement gate | A gap, height, wall, or hazardous terrain blocks progress. | A new movement capability makes the physical route traversable. |
| Tool or interaction gate | A mechanism, object, or door responds to nothing the player currently has. | An acquired tool or item provides the required interaction. |
| Combat-capability gate | An enemy, barrier, or environmental threat cannot be handled with the current options. | New equipment or an ability supplies the needed effect or protection. |
| Knowledge gate | The player sees a puzzle, symbol, or route but does not yet understand its solution. | Information or a discovered rule makes the existing space legible. |
A satisfying gate communicates enough for the player to understand that a return may be worthwhile. The obstacle should be memorable, the later capability should have a recognizable relationship to it, and the revisit should produce a concrete result. Not every locked door is an ability gate: some are ordinary keys, story locks, one-way transitions, or simple markers for linear progression.
Rank #2
![Hollow Knight - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51nXCF+sf5L._SL160_.jpg)
- Classic side-scrolling action, with all the modern trimmings.
- Forge your own path! The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face and find your own way forward.
- Evolve with powerful new skills and abilities! Gain spells, strength and speed. Leap to new heights on ethereal wings. Dash forward in a blazing flash. Blast foes with fiery Soul!
- Equip Charms! Ancient relics that offer bizarre new powers and abilities. Choose your favorites and make your journey unique!
- An enormous cast of cute and creepy characters all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation.
Good gate design also avoids making the player guess an unlimited number of possibilities. Consistent visual language, map notes, environmental cues, or a distinct obstacle shape can help players remember what kind of capability may apply without removing the pleasure of discovery.
Why do Metroidvania games make you backtrack?
Backtracking means returning to an earlier area after gaining a new ability, item, or clue. It is not automatically good or bad. Its value depends on what the return accomplishes and how expensive the trip is.
When revisiting feels like discovery
- There is a payoff. The old room reveals a new branch, shortcut, collectible, story detail, or route to a useful destination.
- The connection makes physical sense. The player can understand how the spaces relate instead of treating the map as a random chain of rooms.
- The return changes the player’s knowledge. A familiar landmark now explains another part of the world or provides a new navigational option.
- Travel remains active. The route offers choices, alternate links, or manageable challenges rather than a long stretch of empty repetition.
When backtracking becomes a chore
A revisit becomes frustrating when the player must repeat a lengthy, low-risk route without discovering anything, when the map gives little help locating possible gates, or when the destination has no meaningful consequence. Excessive travel can also obscure the main objective if several old barriers look equally plausible and the game offers no way to prioritize them.
Team Cherry’s map-design discussion for Hollow Knight illustrates the trade-off rather than establishing a universal rule. Co-director William Pellen said the team wanted “as many connections between areas as we could,” while co-director Ari Gibson linked multiple links between regions with less frustrating backtracking. Their comments describe decisions made for that game; they are not a guarantee that more connections always improve every design.
Four questions for judging a revisit
- Payoff: Does the return reveal something useful, surprising, or narratively meaningful?
- Travel cost: How much safe or repetitive territory must be crossed to reach it?
- Memory support: Can the player remember where the new capability might apply?
- Route choice: Do links and shortcuts allow more than one sensible approach?
How do Metroidvania maps work?
A map in this genre is more than a diagram of rooms. It supports a mental model: which regions connect, which routes are blocked, where a newly acquired power might matter, and how to reach an objective without wandering aimlessly. The best maps preserve mystery while remaining coherent enough for players to reason about them.
Rank #3
![Hollow Knight: Silksong Standard - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mOgOC8xEL._SL160_.jpg)
- Discover the fallen insect kingdom of Pharloom! Explore mossy grottos, gilded cities and misted moors as you ascend to the shining citadel at the top of the world.
- Engage in lethal acrobatic action! Wield a huge suite of deadly moves as you dance between foes in swift, beautiful combat.
- Craft powerful tools! Master an ever-expanding arsenal of weapons, traps, and mechanisms to vanquish your enemies and explore new heights.
- Solve shocking quests! Hunt down rare beasts and solve ancient mysteries to grant the wishes of the downtrodden and restore the kingdom’s hope.
- Face over 200 ferocious foes! Beasts and hunters, monsters and knights. Defeat them all with bravery and skill!
| Map-design axis | What to look for | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity | Meaningful links, loops, shortcuts, and alternate entrances between regions. | Connections reduce dead-end travel and let players choose routes. |
| Spatial coherence | Transitions that feel consistent with the world’s physical layout. | Players can build a reliable sense of place instead of memorizing arbitrary jumps. |
| Progression legibility | Obstacles that communicate what kind of change may overcome them. | Players can form hypotheses rather than treating every barrier as random. |
| Discovery versus guidance | Enough uncertainty for exploration, with enough information to avoid needless repetition. | The map remains surprising without becoming opaque. |
| Revisit payoff | Older rooms gain new value when abilities or knowledge change. | Backtracking feels like progression rather than retracing steps. |
In a PC Gamer interview published August 26, 2025, Pellen summarized Team Cherry’s broad view with the statement, “All it means is a game set in a large, interconnected world.” The same interview described the team’s aim for spaces and transitions to make sense as a physical environment. That approach can be seen as one example of designing for navigability, not a requirement that every Metroidvania use a particular map size or number of connections.
Map interfaces vary widely. Some games reveal rooms only after the player visits them; others show a complete outline but mark unexplored branches. Icons, color coding, room shapes, and fast-travel nodes can all reduce memory burden. A sparse interface can increase mystery, while a detailed one can make gate hunting more deliberate. Neither choice defines the genre by itself.
Where are the genre’s boundaries?
Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night are commonly used as reference points because they combine persistent maps, distinct regions, exploration, and progression tied to abilities or equipment. The latter also connects exploration with role-playing systems: Koji Igarashi discussed a large map and equipment as motivations for searching more of the world. Statistics, inventory depth, shopping, and character levels can enrich this branch of the genre, but none is mandatory.
Hollow Knight offers a modern example for discussing connections, optional routes, and map discovery. Its developers have also emphasized that a genre label should not dictate every design decision. That distinction matters: the structural features are more informative than whether a creator accepts the name.
A game can share one feature without being a full Metroidvania. A linear platformer with a few locked doors may have ability gates but lack a persistent, meaningfully interconnected world. Conversely, an open-ended action game may have a connected map and extensive exploration but little capability-based progression. The label is most useful when all three parts of the formula reinforce one another.
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallOutdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchRank #4
![HOLLOW KNIGHT [E10]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gHoLA9kNL._SL160_.jpg)
- Includes four giant bonus content packs: Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood, and Godmaster
- Classic side-scrolling action, with all modern trimmings
- Tightly tuned 2D controls. Dodge, dash, and slash your way through even the most deadly adversaries
- Explore a vast interconnected world of forgotten highways, overgrown wilds, and ruined cities
- Forge your own path. The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face, and find your own way forward
How to tell whether a game is a Metroidvania
Use this checklist when a store description or review uses the term:
- Can you move between multiple regions in a persistent or interconnected world?
- Do abilities, items, tools, or knowledge expand the actions available to you?
- Do those new capabilities open routes that were previously inaccessible?
- Does the game give you reasons to return to earlier areas?
- Do revisits produce new routes, rewards, information, or shortcuts rather than only repeated combat?
- Can you form a workable mental map of landmarks, connections, and blocked passages?
The more consistently the answer is yes, the more helpful the label is. Treat it as a description of how progression and space interact, not as a promise about camera angle, difficulty, art style, length, or role-playing mechanics.
Practical navigation advice for players
Mark obstacles as future leads
When a route is blocked, note its visual identity and nearby landmark. “Red sealed door beside the elevator” is more useful than remembering only that a door existed somewhere in a large region.
Test new abilities in recently visited spaces first
The most legible applications are often near the place where you acquired the capability or along routes you remember clearly. This limits aimless searching while preserving the satisfaction of recognizing a connection.
Prioritize connections over exhaustive cleanup
A shortcut or alternate entrance can reduce future travel and reveal the map’s structure. Optional rewards are easier to collect once the major links between regions are understood.
Best Value
Use the interface as a memory aid, not a substitute for orientation
Map icons and room outlines can record discoveries, but landmarks and physical relationships remain important when several routes appear similar. If the game provides custom markers, reserve them for distinct gate types or unresolved objectives.
Common misconceptions
“Every locked door is a Metroidvania feature.”
No. A conventional key gate or story checkpoint can appear in any adventure game. The defining question is whether the player’s expanding capabilities reshape access across a connected world.
“Backtracking means repeating the same content.”
Revisiting is repetition only when nothing meaningful changes. In a strong design, the familiar space is recontextualized by a new ability, connection, reward, or piece of knowledge.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems“The map must be side-scrolling.”
Side-scrolling action-adventure is a common tradition and part of Tom Happ’s narrower description, but the broader label is used for games with other viewpoints when they preserve the same exploration-and-gating structure.
“Role-playing statistics are required.”
Symphony of the Night helped popularize a version that mixes exploration with equipment and RPG systems. Those systems are optional; connected geography, capability gates, and meaningful revisits are the more central criteria.
The practical definition
Metroidvania is best understood as a design relationship between abilities and space. The world is built to be revisited, progression changes what the player can do, and the map rewards remembering how places connect. Backtracking succeeds when it converts a previously understood location into a newly useful one. Ability gates succeed when their logic is readable and their payoff is worth the return. Map design succeeds when mystery and orientation coexist.
That is why the genre remains flexible. Designers can emphasize movement, combat, puzzles, equipment, story, or atmosphere while preserving the same central promise: gaining a new capability changes not only the character, but also the meaning and possibilities of the world already explored.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
