Updated Andrii Kovalenko2 min read

What Is a Metroidvania?

What a Metroidvania is, where the name comes from, how ability-gating and backtracking work, and the games that define the genre.

A Metroidvania is a game built around one big, interconnected world that you explore, get stuck in, and slowly pry open as you gain new abilities. You'll hit a ledge you can't reach or a door you can't pass, go find the tool that changes that, and backtrack to open the way through.

The name is a mash-up of Metroid and Castlevania — specifically Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997), which took the exploration template Metroid pioneered and made it the blueprint for a whole genre. If you want to trace the roots further back, games like Metroid covers the series that started it.

The three things that define it

  • An interconnected map. Not separate levels — one continuous world where everything links back together. Part of the fun is building a mental map of how it all connects.
  • Ability-gating. Progress is locked behind powers you don't have yet: a double jump, a dash, a way to break a certain wall. The map is full of doors you're meant to come back to.
  • Backtracking. When you get a new ability, old areas open up. Returning to a place you've already been and suddenly reaching a spot that taunted you earlier is the core loop.

Why the design works

A good Metroidvania turns the map itself into a puzzle. You're always carrying a list of "I'll come back here once I can…" in your head, and every upgrade pays off several of those at once. The world feels like a place rather than a sequence of stages, and exploration is the reward.

Hollow Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest, Super Metroid, and Blasphemous are some of the genre's high points. For a fuller list, see the best Metroidvania games.

The roguelike crossover

Some games fuse the Metroidvania's interconnected, ability-gated world with a roguelike's run-and-die loop — Dead Cells is the popular example, and games like Nine Sols show how far precision combat and dense world-building have pushed the genre. We broke down that hybrid in what is an action-roguelike Metroidvania.

KUTO: The Lock of Time — our game — sits in exactly that overlap: a time-bending action Metroidvania with a run-based structure, built around a 2.5D map you reopen as you grow stronger. Wishlist it on Steam.

Frequently asked questions

Why is it called a Metroidvania?
It's a portmanteau of Metroid and Castlevania. The term was popularized to describe Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997), which adopted the interconnected, ability-gated map design that the Metroid series pioneered.
What makes a game a Metroidvania?
One large, interconnected world (not separate levels), progress gated behind abilities you unlock, and backtracking — returning to earlier areas with new tools to open paths that were closed before.
Is Hollow Knight a Metroidvania?
Yes. Hollow Knight is one of the most acclaimed modern Metroidvanias — a huge interconnected map, ability upgrades that unlock new routes, and constant backtracking through a world you slowly map in your head.
What is the difference between a Metroidvania and a roguelike?
A Metroidvania is one persistent, hand-designed world you explore and reopen with new abilities. A roguelike gives you fresh procedurally generated levels each run and resets you on death. Some games, like Dead Cells, blend both.
What is ability-gating in a Metroidvania?
Ability-gating means parts of the map are intentionally unreachable until you find a specific power — a double jump, a dash, a way to break certain walls. It paces exploration so you always have somewhere new to go when you get a new skill.
Do Metroidvanias have a story?
Most do. Because you explore one continuous world rather than a string of levels, designers can embed narrative in the environment — logs, NPCs, and visual storytelling that reward exploration. The genre handles story in a way that pure level-based games rarely can.
What is backtracking in a Metroidvania and why do players like it?
Backtracking is returning to areas you have already visited, now that you have an ability that opens something previously blocked. When it works well, it rewards memory and makes the world feel layered — a door that blocked you ten hours ago suddenly makes sense.
Is Metroid Prime a Metroidvania?
Metroid Prime is a first-person game rather than a 2D side-scroller, so some players do not count it. Its design DNA is pure Metroidvania: one interconnected world, ability-gated areas, heavy backtracking. Most genre discussions treat it as a 3D expression of the same ideas.
What is a sequence break in a Metroidvania?
A sequence break is bypassing an ability gate through a trick, exploit, or skill the designers did not intend — reaching an area before the game expects you to. It is a staple of Metroidvania speedrunning and a sign of how open the format can be to skilled players.
How long are Metroidvania games?
Widely. A focused run of a genre entry might be 8–15 hours; completionist runs of sprawling ones like Hollow Knight can push 40+ hours. Because the map is fixed and hand-crafted, length comes from density rather than procedural repetition.
Is KUTO: The Lock of Time a Metroidvania?
Yes, structurally. KUTO: The Lock of Time is built on a 2.5D Metroidvania map — an interconnected world that Jokoan Kuto reopens as he grows stronger. It pairs that with a run-based structure and time-manipulation powers drawn from his bond with the titan Kronos.
Can a Metroidvania also be a roguelike?
Yes. Games that blend both (sometimes called roguevaniyas) keep the persistent, ability-gated world structure of a Metroidvania while adding a run-and-die loop with procedural variation. Dead Cells is the best-known example.
What is the difference between a Metroidvania and an open-world game?
A Metroidvania gates areas behind specific abilities, so exploration is deliberately paced. An open-world game typically lets you go almost anywhere from the start, relying on level or gear requirements to discourage certain zones rather than hard ability locks.

Keep reading

Games Like Blasphemous on Mobile (Android & iOS)

Blasphemous itself plays on your phone through Netflix Games — so if you searched this from a phone, here are the dark soulslikes and metroidvanias actually worth downloading on Android and iOS.

Is Blasphemous a Soulslike? Yes, With Nuance

Blasphemous checks the core soulslike boxes — a death penalty, deliberate combat, bosses you learn by losing. But it reaches them as a 2D metroidvania, not a Dark Souls clone.