Metroidvania

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Metroidvania is a sub-genre of digital games that focuses on non-linear exploration. The games tend to be action games that focus on the player avatar’s progression, gaining new abilities as the game progresses. The game takes place across a single, re-explorable enviroment that tends to e generally static, with the player avatar’s abilities (and sometime’s, the player’s own abilities) being the only limiting factor to exploring the entire game map from the beginning.

The term’s named after the game francises Metroid and Castlevania, or more specifically, the original Metroid game and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, as both games had significant influence on the genre as a whole. Before Symphony of the Night released, this genre was nicknamed Metroid-likes.

Games in the genre tend to be action based, 2D, platforming based, and involving the player character discovering a new enviroment. However, none of these elements are required for a game to be considered a metroidvania¹, and it is to be assumed that these elements are elements carried over from the genre’s namesakes - Metroid and Castlevania.