Metroidvanias

Stranded in the year 10,000, Kent—an average Joe turned clone—must survive, explore, and rebuild civilization with the help of a snarky AI. Craft, farm, and automate in this 2D craftervania adventure as you uncover Earth’s secrets and kickstart humanity, one machine at a time.

🌐 Steam

Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends

Little Nemo and his friends return for a hand-animated metroidvania adventure! Explore magical dream worlds with Nemo, the Princess of Slumberland, the mischievious Flip, and royal guard Peony as they try to stop the Nightmare Fiends from ruling over dreams forever.

🌐 Steam

Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland

Explore a dream world as the iconic Little Nemo, armed with toys, candy, and stuffed animals in this cute & colorful Metroidvania adventure. Experience NES-era platformer gameplay in a vast, non-linear world that has been hand-animated frame-by-frame, as you unlock new abilities to progress.

🌐 Steam

I watched the Secret Level episode of Pac-Man the day before and thought, "what an interesting take…". Wild that they're actually turning it into a game.

Shadow Labyrinth is a 2D action platformer and a genre-twisting alternate take on the iconic PAC-MAN. As The Swordsman, you wake on a mysterious planet amidst relics of wars past. To survive you will discover secrets, consume your enemies, and grow from prey to apex predator.

🌐 Steam

Memory’s Reach is a first person puzzle-adventure metroidvania. Explore labyrinthian megastructures, solve mind-bending puzzles, and wield fantastic alien technology in a quest to reveal the legacy of a doomed civilization.

🌐 Steam

Explore a dark and sinister Osaka as the Demon Hunter Shin. Battle demons, regain lost skills, and uncover the truth of your forgotten past in this exciting occult-inspired cyberpunk metroidvania.

🌐

• Website
• Steam
• Switch

A 2D video game that combines platforming and action with a touch of exploration in which we control Morkull, God of death and darkness and lord of the Ragast, whose main mechanics lies in the breaking of the fourth wall, which will allow Morkull to communicate with the player in various ways.

🌐 Steam

Hey all! The board that's pinned to the top of this community was created to track anticipated metroidvanias, but it's now almost out of date and I want to see what games are on your radar and should be included.

What upcoming metroidvanias are you looking forward to?

Here's some that I'm thinking about:

• Possessor(s)
• MIO: Memories in Orbit
• Exil
• Mandragora
• LUCID
• Altered Alma
• Iron Corbo: Kung Fu Janitor
• Crowsworn
• Mariachi Legends
• Akatori
• Constance
• Blade Chimera
• Primal Planet
• Inayah: Life After Gods
• Fallen Tear: The Ascension
• Comix Zero
• Ties: Soul Link
• The Red Selene
• Soul Blade

…and yes, I absolutely have Silksong on my radar, but I'm over paying attention to it until it comes out.

Now that 2024 is coming to an end, I'd love to do a community post and hear about what people enjoyed. It was a banner year for the genre.

What metroidvanias from 2024 stood out to you?

Here's what I played this year

1. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown — Didn't expect it to be this good. Even the DLC is worth it. I'd put it behind Hollow Knight and the Ori games as an all-timer
2. Nine Sols — While the bosses were tougher than I'm comfortable with, this game was a huge surprise for me. Really polished. Luckily, there's a difficulty slider.
3. Animal Well — I'm a sucker for knowledge-gated games, and this brought back memories of Fez and Tunic.
4. BioGun — Super polished game that hits on all the notes that make me love this genre. I wish it was more performant on Steam Deck, but I was able to overlook that.
5. Voidwrought — People complained about the movement, but that didn't phase me. There were some minor endgame bugs that didn't allow me to 100% it, but I loved it enough that I wanted to.
6. Minishoot Adventures — I wasn't thinking I'd play this one, as I'm not much of a bullet hell guy, but it was a ton of fun.
7. Crypt Custodian — I love all of Kyle's games, and he keeps getting better. 100%-ed this one.
8. Ultros — Outside of Animal Well, this might be the most original out of the bunch. It was a crazy experience that was different than usual.
9. Biomorph — Fun, but I felt that I just wanted to beat it to get it over with by the end.
10. Tales of Kenzera: ZAU — I thought it was a great story and pretty polished, but it gets knocked because of how linear it is. There is zero backtracking. Barely fair to call it a metroidvania.
11. Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus* — I almost completed this, but the platforming at the end got very intense.
12. The Mobius Machine — This one felt like a slog to complete. It needed more variation.
13. Turbo Kid*
14. Noreya: The Gold Project*
15. Venture to the Vile*

*Didn't finish

The mystical Egyptian underworld beckons you in Duat: Shadows of Light & Dark! Foil the plans of Set and Apep using your powers of light. Explore the varied environments of the underworld and battle your way through in this epic pixel art style platformer.

🌐 Steam

Slash, burn, and rage your way through Mandragora, a 2.5D side-scroller action-RPG with deep Metroidvania and Soulslike elements. Light your Witch Lantern, enter the dark realm of Entropy, and tear reality asunder.

🌐

• Steam
• Website

While really difficult (I had to tone down the difficulty), this was an S-tier metroidvania for me. I'd put it in my top 5

Nine Sols is a lore rich, hand-drawn 2D action-platformer featuring Sekiro-inspired deflection focused combat. Embark on a journey of eastern fantasy, explore the land once home to an ancient alien race, and follow a vengeful hero’s quest to slay the 9 Sols, formidable rulers of this forsaken realm.

🎮

• Steam
• Switch
• Playstation
• Xbox

Forgotlings is a breathtaking cinematic action-adventure set in a magical land of sentient forgotten objects. Journey to distant corners of our collective memories and unite warring tribes against a mysterious looming threat to their existence.

🌐

• Steam
• Website

Not seeing any current reviews, but the game has been in Early Access on Steam since April and is listed as "Very Positive"

Join Kim Rip, a Royal Guard whose humanity is gradually slipping away, on a thrilling 2.5D action-adventure platforming journey in 'The Devil Within: Satgat'. Uncover the mysteries of a desolate realm as you engage in stylish battles against formidable foes.

🎮

• Steam
• Playstation

Game of the Year, with metroidvanias in bold:

• 1000xRESIST, sunset visitor 斜陽過客
• Animal Well, Billy Basso
• ARCO, Arco Team
• Balatro, LocalThunk
• Crypt Custodian, Kyle Thompson
• Lorlei and the Laser Eyes, Simogo
• Mouthwashing, Wrong Organ
• Neva, Nomada Studio
• Nine Sols, RedCandleGames
• UFO 50, Mossmouth

Additionally, "Animal Well" picked up a nom for Solo Development, "Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus" and "Ultros" got noms for Visual Design, and "Minishoot Adventures" and "Nine Sols" got noms for Gameplay Design"

Not a bad year!

Explore a stunning hand-craft world ravaged by war and ruled by an evil tyrant. Face a wide variety of enemies as you customize your strategy, change your weapons and unlock different abilities.

🌐 Steam

Become a wise-cracking immortal fighting an evil regime in world’s first comixvania. Every page could be your last. Every joke has a punchline. Every death wipes a piece of your memory. Welcome to Comix Zero.

🌐 Steam

This looks good enough to make me want to get a Playdate…

FYI: The Playdate has a "season" model where you get 12 games over the course of 12 weeks.

An owlet afraid of flight sets off to explore a vibrant mysterious world and rediscover itself. On this heartwarming adventure, you'll confront the owlet's deepest fears as only the greatest challenges can lead to the most profound growth.

Owlet's Embrace is an action exploration platformer, blending fast paced grappling hook maneuvers with combat and emotional discovery.

Good, but not great reviews. I'm on the fence, but I love the boss designs and the visuals.

Voidwrought is a 2D action-platformer set in a hand-drawn world of cosmic horrors. Explore the thawing ruins of the First Civilisation and strike down the gods that dwell there. Grow your powers, uncover ancient artifacts, and expand your shrine amid the wreckage.

🎮

• Steam
• Switch

✅

• Noisy Pixel
• CGM
• The Games Machine
• SwitchUp

Reviews are a bit all over the place so far…

Weave your own story in this dark fairy tale. In the mysterious ancient ruins, you will adventure with Tania to reveal her origins and fate. Is there any chance of survival in the darkest and desperate place?

🎮

• Steam
• Playstation

✅

• Beebom
• I Dream of Indie Games
• Noisy Pixel
• Game8

The reviews aren't looking so hot. I've looked at a good handful of them and only two are above a 7.

When giant monsters fight, no one’s safe. Embark on a thrilling quest of survival in a city that’s become a battleground for Titans. Use the lethal strength of Kong and other monsters to your own advantage in this official Monsterverse game set shortly after the events of Godzilla vs. Kong.

🎮

• Steam
• Playstation
• Xbox

✅

• God is a Geek
• Way Too Many Games
• Blog Critics
• TechRaptor
• IGN
• GameSpew
• Push Square

TIES: Soul Link is a beautiful 2D Metroidvania that combines elements of action RPG and platform adventure with a strong and immersive narrative with decision-making.

Enhance the protagonist’s abilities to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and advance through the various populated cities. Coming to Windows and macOS Steam, and Nintendo Switch.

TIES: Soul Link is framed within the science fiction – fantasy genre with a very personal graphic section: it mixes Cartoon style with cyberpunk, Japanese, Nordic, classical Greek, and Persian/African settings.

🌐

• Kickstarter
• Steam

Fuse, Split and Swap to escape! A fast paced, hand-drawn action-adventure involving a rambunctious rat and its multiple mech parts that you can fuse together or split apart at will. Use these powers to explore a mysterious facility, solve puzzles and beat the bad guys! Can you escape the Rat Trap?

🌐 Steam

It's getting solid to good reviews.

Anima Flux is a co-op metroidvania with two genetically enhanced soldiers, special agents of a theocratic dictatorial regime. Fight your way through swarms of mutants through a desolate, dystopian space city and save humanity's last stronghold, if, of course, anyone is still alive...

🎮 Steam

✅

• Soulsborne Seeker
• I Dream of Indie Games
• Mega the Micro

In Bungie's latest developer livestream, the team teased that the Apollo expansion for Destiny 2 will include a "Metroidvania-inspired destination." The expansion will take a non-linear approach, with players being able to explore multiple destinations from the start. Progressing the story and finding a specific item will open up new areas for exploration, as Bungie's goal for the expansion involves keeping players invested in the world. New concept artwork for this destination was shown, confirming that players will meet a new group of people, uncover untold secrets, gain new powerful abilities, and make important choices along the way. Bungie also teases that 25 to 30 "different threads" of stories may be experienced as players complete different activities.

• Codename: Apollo will launch in Summer 2025.
• The expansion takes a non-linear approach, with its destination being explorable from the start.
• Players will meet a new group of people and make important decisions in the expansion.
• There will be 25 to 30 "different threads" of stories.
• There will be secrets to uncover and new abilities to obtain.

This game was fantastic — great story, art style, gameplay. It's very hard, but there are sliders to control the difficulty. I have this game in my top 10 metroidvanias, so I'm excited for others who don't have a PC to try it out