A subtype of the Action-Adventure genre, usually with platformer elements, Metroidvania refers to any game containing the major gameplay concepts shared by the Metroid series and later Castlevania games.

Your typical Metroidvania game is portrayed as a single large area or a set of large areas, broken up into many different rooms, corridors, and open spaces with Respawning Enemies in most areas.^note In The New '10s, Dark Souls (often viewed as an adjacent game in genre) would set the trend for only having them respawn after resting at a save point, among other influences; but this is still not always the case. Progress in the game is driven by the discovery of Video Game Tools (items with some functionality) that allow the player to navigate obstacles and "unlock" new areas, while also serving as more than just a "key"; for example, a weapon powerful enough to destroy certain walls will often deal more damage to enemies, and the ability to climb walls could be used to avoid enemies as well as reach high places.

The player will often pass many insurmountable obstacles as they explore the game, which they must backtrack to after finding the appropriate item/ability, often made easier by opening Doors To Before. There are usually many secrets hidden around the game, some far more difficult to obtain than any item required to proceed.

It often contains mild RPG Elements as well, like stat-boosting equipment or a level system; some of these games will have multiple playable characters with different abilities and require the player to switch between them. But if not, expect to find hidden Heart Containers in every nook and cranny.

Despite the game's openness, progression is usually linear, with the more difficult areas separated by natural barriers such as high shelves, sealed or locked doors, or other obstacles that can only be bypassed by finding specific items or weapons. Among gamers, Sequence Breaking is a common stunt used to access these areas before the player is "supposed" to.

The definition of this Sub-Genre varies somewhat depending on whom you ask. People seem to demand some or all of the following traits variably:

• Exploring nonlinear interconnected areas, often resulting in backtracking, especially for new players.^note A notable caveat considers level-based games as qualifying as long as you can consistently return to levels for further exploration/player growth. One of the most notable cases of this is the Gargoyle's Quest series; particularly the third game Demon's Crest for which the niche has been dubbed "Crest-Likes".
• Critical progress is driven by items, tools, weapons, or powerups used to get around obstacles and become more powerful in at least some capacity (at least for a blind playthrough). Single-use keys may or may not be present, but are not included in "utility-based progress".
• Platforming elements are almost always present, as mobility is an important part of the sense of player growth and world recontextualization.
• Sequence Breaking capabilities, even if not official, are always welcome as they encourage making the most of the gameplay sandbox.

It's worth noting that not all Metroidvanias have all of these elements and not all games with some of these elements are Metroidvanias. Unsure examples can be placed in the Adjacent/Pseudo category beneath the main list.

This sub-genre gets its name from the Metroid and Castlevania series. The Trope Maker was Metroid, published in 1986, and subsequent Metroid games have consistently used it in all of their installments (except Prime Pinball, of course), with Super Metroid being one of the Trope Codifiers. Castlevania first used the style in 1987's Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (building on the less-linear nature of 1986's Vampire Killer compared to the first NES game), before abandoning it and then returning to it after the success of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the Co-Codifier.

The term itself was originally used for the Castlevania games of the same style as Symphony of the Night, but Jeremy Parish of Retronauts expanded the definition so that it referred to an entire genre; his use of the term popularized it, and along with it his definition. Ironically, the designer of Symphony of the Night modeled that game on the The Legend of Zelda series, which also shares some traits with this genre though is often overlooked in discussions due to it not being a 2D side-scrolling. (The other branch of the Castlevania series (level-by-level straight platforming action) is sometimes called the "Classicvania" style, for reference.)

While Metroid and Castlevania were the Trope Maker and Trope Codifier, respectively, Ur-Examples were Brain Breaker (1984/1985) and Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu (1985). Several early Metroidvania titles were inspired by these titles, particularly Xanadu. Metroidvania elements could be traced further back to non-platformer games Tutankham (1982) and The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983). Modern reviewers also noticed System Shock (1994) — released a few months before Super Metroid — also shares a lot with the genre, albeit in First Person, and would generate its own sub-genre of Immersive Sim, which would include a lot of elements from Metroidvanias.

A somewhat lesser version of this was fairly popular towards the end of the Nintendo Entertainment System's life cycle. The game would be separated into stages, but each stage was a wide-open, explorable area instead of a linear progression. Many of these games allowed revisiting a stage after you already beat it.

Games in this genre tend to be a four (or three) on the Sliding Scale of Linearity vs. Openness. Finally, it should also be noted that "Metroidvania" is the term used in English-speaking markets; in Japanese markets, the genre is known as "exploration action"^note 探索アクション (tansaku action) or "search action" for brevity (though this is as a catch-all for adventure platformers, even ones that don't qualify as "Metroidvanias"). Other terms that have seen common use to describe such games include "IGAvania", named after Koji Igarashi, a lead producer for the Castlevania series whose games used this style; "Metroid-Like" for entries that lack the RPG elements of the former (or at least lack notable Castlevania inspiration), and "Soulsvania" for Souls-like RPG inspired entries (it's worth noting that not all Soulslikes 2D or otherwise are Metroidvanias and such entries are addressed plainly as "Soulslikes"). More niche but relatively frequent terms are "Crest-Likes" for examples with separated stages as opposed to a fully interconnected world (named after Demon's Crest which defined that design approach), "Puzzlevania" for games that significantly downplay action and other mechanics for puzzles while still adhering to all core genre tenets (e.g. Animal Well, Knytt Underground, and La-Mulana if you want both puzzles and action). Not to be confused with "Metroidbrainias" which are largely not considered MVs at all, but rather puzzle adventures where the players' expanding knowledge of what they can already do (of course being driven by exploration, experimentation, and backtracking) takes precedence over actual abilities gained (e.g. Trope Codifier The Witness, Toki Tori 2, Rain World, and Outer Wilds); leading to a similar but ultimately different progress loop. The former can borrow features from the latter and vice versa (as seen in Tunic or Animal Well).

If you're interested in making your own, check out our how-to Make a Metroidvania.

Examples: