Metroidvania
noun
a video game subgenre combining action and exploration
What does Metroidvania mean?
Metroidvania (sometimes styled metroidvania) refers to a subgenre of videogames that combine elements of action-adventure games with exploration. In other words, Metroidvania games—which are usually platformers require players to navigate their character through a maze-like, 2D world, fighting enemies and avoiding deadly obstacles along the way. Metroidvania is also used to refer to games within the subgenre.
Examples of Metroidvania
By collecting seeds and planting them, the player enables alien flora to grow as time advances. The vibrant plant life is not just decorative; it is an ingenious take on a defining feature of Metroidvanias, helping the player gain powers to reach previously inaccessible areas.
—Lewis Gordon, The New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
This is gonna sound corny as hell, but we humans are built to walk, to explore, to familiarize ourselves with new environments. Because of that trait, we are all over this goddamn planet. It's part of who we are. Metroidvanias offer that sense of exploration and gradual familiarity in spades, albeit usually distilled into a two-dimensional plane.
—… Metroidvania games combine platforming, exploration, role-playing, customization mechanics, and combat into a sprawling adventure. There are no set rules for the genre, but in general, a Metroidvania game will involve fighting enemies, finding ways to progress past locked doors or unreachable areas, and learning new abilities. The 2D side-scrolling style makes these games perfect for the Switch ...
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Where does Metroidvania come from?
Metroidvania is a portmanteau of the names of two video game series that launched in the 1980s for the Nintendo Entertainment system and inspired the general gameplay of the subgenre: “Metroid” and “Castlevania.” Castlevania itself is a portmanteau of castle and Transylvania. The term has been used since at least the early 2000s.
How is Metroidvania used?
Metroidvania games are very popular, and often beloved by people who have nostalgia for the original games that influenced the subgenre. They are also very diverse and inspire much online content debating individual games’ strengths and weaknesses, as well as lists ranking favorites.
The biggest thing to know about Metroidvanias is that there are very few “universally acclaimed” games. The genre is very broad and encompasses a lot of elements, and people focus on different elements at different levels. Some people love … combat, others hate it. Some like precision platforming, others hate it. Some like cryptic puzzles, others hate it. Some people prefer pixel art, some people prefer hand-drawn, and some people prefer more modern graphics.
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