Best Metroidvania Games of All Time: 14 Ranked on Steam

The best metroidvania games of all time share one feeling: the moment a locked door you passed an hour ago suddenly makes sense, because you just earned the power to open it. You love a map that fills in slowly, a world that folds back on itself, and the quiet thrill of a shortcut that was there all along. Every pick below delivers that, and all fourteen are on Steam.

What is a metroidvania, and what makes one great?

A metroidvania is an action-adventure game built around one large, connected map. Parts of that map stay out of reach until you find a key item or ability: a double jump, a dash, a way to breathe underwater. Each new power lets you return to places you have already seen (this is called backtracking) and push further, so exploring and getting stronger are the same activity. The name blends Metroid and Castlevania, the two series that defined the style in the 1980s and 1990s, and the genre had a huge indie revival from the 2010s onward.

When players argue about the best metroidvania games of all time, they usually weigh the same handful of things:

• World design. Does the map loop back on itself in clever ways, with shortcuts that make you grin?
• Movement. Does traversal feel good on its own, before any enemy appears?
• Upgrades that change how you play. The best abilities open new paths and new ways to fight.
• Bosses and combat. Some games lean on challenge, others on atmosphere.
• Secrets. A great metroidvania rewards curiosity long after the credits.

This list sticks to games you can play on Steam, so a few console-era landmarks that started the genre are not here. What is here covers every flavour, from gothic castles to puzzle boxes. If you want a shorter, genre-wide overview, our best metroidvania games picks are a good companion to this ranking.

The best metroidvania games of all time, starting with the landmarks

These four set the bar. If you only play a handful of the best metroidvania games of all time, start here.

Hollow Knight

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Team Cherry’s debut is the modern reference point for the genre. Beneath the fading town of Dirtmouth lies a ruined insect kingdom, and you explore it through twisting caverns, ancient cities and deadly wastes, fighting tainted creatures and meeting odd, memorable bugs along the way. The hand-drawn 2D style gives it a melancholy beauty, and the controls are tightly tuned: you dodge, dash and slash through fights that reward patience and precision.

What makes it an all-timer is how much of the world you discover on your own terms. Paths branch, secrets hide behind walls, and the kingdom keeps revealing new layers. The store page also lists four free content updates (Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood and Godmaster) that add bosses, quests, charms and characters. It suits players who enjoy a real challenge and like piecing together a story from scattered clues. Steam lists it as single-player with full controller support, on Windows, macOS and Linux. If it becomes your favourite, our list of games like Hollow Knight goes deeper.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

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The sequel puts you in the role of Hornet, a lethal hunter captured and taken to the kingdom of Pharloom. Your goal is to climb to a shining citadel at the top of the world, passing through mossy grottos, gilded cities and misted moors. Combat is faster and more acrobatic here: the store page talks about dancing between foes with a huge suite of moves.

Silksong adds two big ideas to the formula. You craft tools, including weapons, traps and mechanisms, which help in fights and in reaching new heights. And you take on quests, hunting rare beasts and solving mysteries to help the kingdom’s downtrodden. With over 200 foes listed, it is a large game for players who want more of what Hollow Knight does, with extra mobility. Steam lists it as single-player, with full controller support and a gamepad recommended, on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Castlevania Advance Collection

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This is the easiest way to play classic Castlevania on PC. KONAMI’s collection gathers three Castlevania games first released in the early 2000s on Game Boy Advance (Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow) plus Castlevania: Dracula X. You explore Dracula’s castle room by room, finding new powers and slowly opening the map. Circle of the Moon, for example, lets you combine action and attribute cards to create over 80 spell effects.

The modern additions matter a lot: Rewind, Save/Load and Replay smooth over the rough edges of older design, and there is an encyclopedia, a music player and the option to switch ROM regions. It suits anyone curious about where the genre’s castle-crawling half comes from, and it is a fine choice if you want shorter, punchier adventures. Steam lists it as single-player, on Windows.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

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Koji Igarashi, who helped shape Castlevania’s exploration style as assistant director on Symphony of the Night, made Bloodstained as a spiritual successor to that work. You play Miriam, an orphan whose body is slowly crystallizing because of an alchemist’s curse, and you battle through a demon-infested castle summoned by her old friend Gebel.

It is an action RPG first: loot, gear and character growth sit at the centre, so it suits players who love numbers going up as much as maps filling in. The store page lists a Speed Run Mode, a Boss Rush Mode and free content updates, plus full voice acting for cutscenes and characters. Bloodstained is also the only pick here whose Steam features go beyond solo play: alongside single-player, Steam lists co-op, online co-op, shared or split-screen co-op, PvP and Remote Play Together. It runs on Windows.

Metroidvanias with beautiful worlds and fluid movement

If what you love most is the joy of simply moving through a gorgeous world, these four lean hardest into traversal and atmosphere.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

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Moon Studios’ sequel is one of the most visually striking games in the genre and a regular on lists of the best metroidvania games of all time. You set out on a new journey through a vast, exotic world, facing towering enemies and challenging puzzles on a quest to understand Ori’s destiny. Movement is the heart of it: chaining jumps, dashes and abilities across a level feels close to a dance once you get the hang of it.

It suits players who want emotion and spectacle as much as challenge, and those who loved the first game and want a bigger world with more combat options. Steam lists it as single-player with full controller support, on Windows.

Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition

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The forest of Nibel is dying, and Ori, a young orphan, has to find the courage to save it. The hand-painted art, careful animation and orchestral score carry a story about love and sacrifice that hits harder than you might expect from a platformer.

The Definitive Edition is the version to play. Its store page lists new areas, two new abilities (Dash and Light Burst), more story sequences, multiple difficulty modes, full backtracking support and teleporting between Spirit Wells to get around faster. Those options make it one of the friendliest starting points on this list. Steam lists it as single-player with full controller support, on Windows.

Prince of Persia The Lost Crown

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Ubisoft Montpellier took a famous series and rebuilt it as a 2D metroidvania. You explore Mount Qaf, a cursed, Persian-inspired world of large landmarks and distinct biomes, using Time Powers alongside combat and platforming skills to string together combos against time-corrupted enemies and mythological creatures.

What you actually do is a satisfying mix: fight, solve environmental puzzles, hunt for treasure and complete quests that fill in the story of the place. It suits players who want a stylish, polished adventure with a strong combat focus and plenty of side content. Steam lists it as single-player with full controller support, on Windows.

Haiku, the Robot

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Haiku is a cute adventure through Arcadia, a dying mechanical land full of corrupt robots and machinery. You forge your own path through a vast interconnected world, map uncharted areas, fight fierce machines in tight melee combat and pick up items and abilities that open previously inaccessible areas. Along the way you meet quirky robots, both friendly and hostile.

It feels like a gentler cousin of Hollow Knight, which makes it a great bridge into harder games. Its free updates added a back-to-back boss challenge called Trial of Steel and a Corrupt Mode where you play with one health point, so veterans have something to chew on too. Steam lists it as single-player with full controller support, on Windows and macOS.

Hard-hitting metroidvanias built around combat

Some players rank the best metroidvania games of all time by their boss fights. These four put combat front and centre. Several borrow from “soulslike” games, a style named after Dark Souls that means tough enemies, punishing mistakes and learning attack patterns through repetition.

Nine Sols

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RedCandleGames built Nine Sols around deflection, inspired by Sekiro: instead of just dodging, you time your guard to turn enemy attacks aside, which rewards rhythm and nerve. You play Yi, a forgotten hero awoken by a human child, on a vengeful quest to slay the 9 Sols who rule New Kunlun. The setting, which the developers call “Taopunk”, blends cyberpunk with Taoism and far eastern mythology, and the hand-drawn art gives it a look nothing else here shares.

It suits players who love precise, demanding boss fights and a lore-heavy story. Steam lists it as single-player with full controller support and a gamepad recommended, on Windows and macOS.

Blasphemous

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The Game Kitchen’s Blasphemous is grim in the best way. A curse called The Miracle has fallen over the land of Cvstodia, and you play The Penitent One, trapped in a cycle of death and rebirth. Armed with Mea Culpa, a sword born from guilt, you hack through grotesque monsters and huge bosses, finishing enemies with savage executions.

The world is non-linear, full of deadly traps and secrets, and you customize your character by equipping relics, rosary beads and prayers. It suits players who enjoy dark, unsettling art direction and weighty melee combat. Steam lists it as single-player with full controller support, on Windows, macOS and Linux.

ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights

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In Land’s End, a rain of death turned every living thing into undead monsters called the Blighted. Lily wakes in the depths of a church and sets out to learn what happened, travelling through a submerged forest, a contaminated cavern and a grand castle.

Its signature idea is that formidable bosses, once defeated and freed from their curse, join you as allies who fight alongside you. That makes every boss victory feel like a real gain in power. It suits players who want a sorrowful, atmospheric dark fantasy with challenging fights where a moment of inattention can be fatal. Steam lists it as single-player with full controller support and a gamepad recommended, on Windows.

Dead Cells

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Dead Cells is a roguelite, which means each attempt (a “run”) starts fresh when you die, but you keep some permanent progress between runs. Motion Twin calls it a “Roguevania”: it takes the interconnected world, branching paths and ability-based progress of a metroidvania and puts them inside an ever-changing castle with no checkpoints. You play a failed alchemic experiment who takes over bodies to explore a cursed island, and each death sends you back to start again, keeping new paths, levels, mutations, abilities and weapons you have earned.

It suits players who want fast, replayable action in short sessions rather than one long journey. It also supports Steam Workshop. Steam lists it as single-player with full controller support, on Windows, macOS and Linux. If the run-based loop hooks you, our roguelite games like Hades list is the natural next stop.

Metroidvanias for puzzle lovers and secret hunters

For some players, the best part of the genre is the “aha” moment rather than the boss kill. These two are built around that.

ANIMAL WELL

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Billy Basso’s ANIMAL WELL is a dense, interconnected labyrinth that works like a puzzle box. You hatch from a flower and explore a pixelated world of beautiful and sometimes haunting creatures. You are deliberately weak, so the game is about tension and cleverness rather than fighting: you light candles for safety, fill in your map and collect items in any order, and every item has multiple uses.

The store page promises that the main game is just the beginning, with hidden puzzles for players to uncover for a long time. It suits players who love secrets, lateral thinking and games that trust you to experiment. Steam lists it as single-player with full controller support and a gamepad recommended, on Windows. If mysteries are your thing, try our mystery games like Outer Wilds too.

Axiom Verge

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After a lab accident, a scientist wakes up in a mysterious alien world. Is it a distant planet, the far future or a simulation? Axiom Verge sends you through a large, labyrinthine world to find out, gathering lots of weapons, items and abilities, each with its own behaviour.

Its twist is that you can “break” the game itself, using glitches to corrupt enemies and solve environmental puzzles. It suits players who love retro sci-fi, gunplay and the original Metroid-style feeling of being alone somewhere strange. Steam lists it as single-player with full controller support, on Windows and Linux.

How to choose your next metroidvania

Every game above earns its place among the best metroidvania games of all time, but they ask different things of you. Here is how to match one to your taste.

The main trade-offs

• Challenge versus comfort. Hollow Knight, Silksong, Nine Sols and Blasphemous are demanding. Ori and the Blind Forest’s difficulty modes and Haiku’s tone are easier to settle into.
• One long journey versus short runs. Dead Cells is built for replayable sessions. Everything else is a single, persistent adventure.
• Combat versus curiosity. ANIMAL WELL barely asks you to fight. Bloodstained and Prince of Persia The Lost Crown ask you to fight a lot.
• Solo versus with someone. Bloodstained is the only pick here with co-op listed on Steam. For more shared-screen options, see our best couch co-op games on PC.

A worked example: a starter path for newcomers

Say you have never finished a metroidvania and want to work up to the genre’s heavyweights. A sensible order looks like this:

1. Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition to learn backtracking with difficulty options and fast travel.
2. Haiku, the Robot to get used to a Hollow Knight-style map and melee combat at a gentler pace.
3. Hollow Knight once you are comfortable reading a map and learning boss patterns.
4. Silksong or Nine Sols when you want sharper, faster combat.

If you prefer classics, swap step two for the Castlevania Advance Collection, whose rewind and save features take the sting out of older design.

Mistakes to avoid

• Starting with the hardest game. Plenty of players bounce off the genre because their first pick was its toughest. Ease in.
• Banging your head on one boss. If you are stuck, explore elsewhere. Many metroidvanias let you come back stronger.
• Ignoring the map. Mark doors you could not open. Most “where do I go?” moments are solved by remembering an old dead end.
• Expecting Dead Cells to save your progress like the others. It is a roguelite: dying is part of the plan, and progress comes in pieces.
• Rushing past secrets. In ANIMAL WELL and Hollow Knight especially, the strange wall or unexplained symbol is usually the point.

Platform note: this ranking covers the Steam versions, so it lists Windows, macOS and Linux support as Steam shows it. If you also play on a console, check each game’s own listings there. For more genre picks, browse the best games on Steam, our best indie games on Steam, or, if precise platforming is what you crave, our platformer games like Celeste. Whichever you pick, the best metroidvania games of all time all start the same way: a small character, a big map, and a door you cannot open yet.

Questions and answers

What is the best metroidvania game of all time?

There is no single agreed answer, but Hollow Knight is the strongest pick you can play on Steam today. It has a huge interconnected kingdom, tight 2D combat, a deep upgrade system and several free content updates that add bosses and quests. If you want a classic instead, the Castlevania Advance Collection bundles early-2000s Castlevania games with rewind and save features.

What does metroidvania mean?

Metroidvania is a blend of Metroid and Castlevania, the two series that shaped the style. It describes action-adventure games set in one large, connected map where some paths stay blocked until you find a new ability or item. Gaining those powers lets you return to old areas, open shortcuts and reach secrets, so exploring and getting stronger go hand in hand.

Which metroidvania is best for beginners?

Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition is a friendly start because its Steam page lists multiple difficulty modes, full backtracking support and fast travel between Spirit Wells. Haiku, the Robot is another good first step, with a cute tone and a manageable world. Once the genre clicks, move on to Hollow Knight, which asks more of your reflexes and patience.

Are there metroidvanias with co-op on Steam?

Most metroidvanias are single-player, and every game on this list except one is listed on Steam as single-player only. The exception is Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, whose Steam features include co-op, online co-op, shared or split-screen co-op, PvP and Remote Play Together alongside its single-player campaign. Check its store page for how those modes work before buying for a friend.

Which of these metroidvanias run on Mac or Linux?

On Steam, Hollow Knight, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Dead Cells and Blasphemous list Windows, macOS and Linux. Nine Sols and Haiku, the Robot list Windows and macOS. Axiom Verge lists Windows and Linux. The rest, including both Ori games, Bloodstained, Prince of Persia The Lost Crown, ENDER LILIES, ANIMAL WELL and the Castlevania Advance Collection, list Windows only.

Do I need to play Hollow Knight before Silksong?

Silksong is the sequel to Hollow Knight, but it moves to a new kingdom called Pharloom and puts Hornet in the lead, so it is built around a fresh setting and new powers. Playing Hollow Knight first gives you context for Hornet and the world's mood, and it is a great game in its own right, but you can start wherever the premise grabs you.