10 Best Metroidvania Games on Steam (2026)

Picked by GameGeeker Editors · Sep 28, 2026, 06:04 AM·listDetail.views: 196 Comments

A big map means very little if crossing it feels like homework. We care about what happens between destinations: a shortcut you recognize, an ability that changes an old room, a fight that makes you rethink your approach. Handcrafted exploration comes first, followed by combat feel, lasting Steam reception, and how much worthwhile play you get for your money.

Image: Hornet in Hollow Knight: Silksong

The Top 3 in 30 Seconds: Hollow Knight: Silksong takes first place for fast movement, demanding bosses, and a kingdom worth getting lost in. Hollow Knight follows with a slower, beautifully connected underworld and exceptional value. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the pick if you want movement to feel wonderful before you want combat to hurt.

Why These Made the List #

GameGeeker's editorial call here is to reward those connections, rather than sort by sales or give older games automatic seniority. Silksong leads because it brings exploration and demanding action together. But combat isn't the only route onto this list. ANIMAL WELL earns its place through puzzles, while Dead Cells is the deliberate genre outlier: its changing runs trade a persistent world for replayability.

Use the order as a starting point, then follow your taste. These are editorial judgments, not a numerical scoring formula. Prices below come from the supplied US pricing snapshot; sale prices can change. Playtimes are rough guides, with secrets, retries, and repeat runs capable of stretching them considerably. Paid DLC should be budgeted separately.

Top Picks #

1. Hollow Knight: Silksong #

Hornet changes the pace immediately. You move faster, commit harder, and have to read fights around a much more mobile lead. Pharloom gives that movement a dense kingdom to work through. Compared with Hollow Knight, Silksong asks more of your execution, but the appeal is familiar: struggle with a route, learn it, then make it yours.

Why It's Ranked Here: The strongest overall fit for our criteria: dense exploration, distinctive bosses, and tools and crests that give you room to experiment. It builds on Hollow Knight without simply repeating its rhythm.
Who It's For: You want a long, demanding adventure and enjoy learning difficult platforming and boss encounters through repeated attempts.
Key Selling Points: Fast traversal; tool-and-crest loadouts; a substantial 40–60-hour adventure at the supplied $19.99 price.

2. Hollow Knight #

Hallownest makes getting lost feel purposeful. You follow a passage because something looks interesting, then discover how it connects to a place you thought you understood. Beside Silksong, Hollow Knight gives you a more measured pace. That extra breathing room lets its ruined kingdom, sparse storytelling, and music do their work.

Why It's Ranked Here: Its interconnected world remains the benchmark for this list. Silksong wins on movement and action, but the original stays close through atmosphere, map structure, and value.
Who It's For: You want a substantial first journey into the series, or you care more about exploring a coherent world than moving through it quickly.
Key Selling Points: Four free content updates included; flexible charm builds; an art-and-music partnership that sustains a long adventure for $14.99.

3. Ori and the Will of the Wisps #

Image: Ori and the Will of the Wisps artwork

You know that moment when a platforming sequence finally clicks and your hands stop hesitating? Ori builds around that feeling. Grapples, dashes, and glides become one flowing movement through painterly scenery. Compared with Silksong, the emphasis shifts toward traversal and spectacle, with difficulty options that make this a more welcoming place to start.

Why It's Ranked Here: Movement carries it into third. Its chase sequences turn individual abilities into satisfying chains, though it offers a shorter adventure than either Hollow Knight game.
Who It's For: You're new to the genre, prefer movement over punishing duels, or want a game whose animation and orchestral score deserve your full attention.
Key Selling Points: Fluid traversal; adjustable difficulty; expressive animation; a supplied sale price of $2.99, down from $29.99.

4. Dead Cells #

You die, lose the run, and start thinking about the next weapon combination. That's Dead Cells. Unlike Silksong, it doesn't ask you to inhabit one persistent, handcrafted kingdom. Its changing layouts and loot make adaptation the main event, while permanent traversal unlocks give future runs new routes. Come for the combat; stay for the experimentation.

Why It's Ranked Here: The strongest replayability pick, with responsive fighting and a broad weapon pool. It sits below the top three because randomized runs provide a different pleasure from learning a fixed map.
Who It's For: You like sessions built around another attempt, enjoy improvising with equipment, and can accept losing progress when a run ends.
Key Selling Points: Escalating Boss Cell difficulty; weapons and mutations that change your approach; optional Return to Castlevania DLC. Allow roughly 20–40 minutes for many runs, with plenty of variation.

5. Nine Sols #

If your favorite part of a boss fight is standing your ground, look here. Nine Sols builds its combat around timed deflections, then wraps those duels in Taoist science fiction and a revenge story. Where Silksong emphasizes mobility, this asks you to recognize an attack, trust the timing, and answer it.

Why It's Ranked Here: Its focused combat and substantial storytelling earn fifth place. For parry enthusiasts, it could easily outrank Silksong; our broader ranking gives exploration and value equal attention.
Who It's For: You enjoy Sekiro-style timing, want a story with weight, and would rather master a defensive technique than dodge everything.
Key Selling Points: Precise deflection combat; talismans and upgrades that support different approaches; a distinctive meeting of technology and Taoist imagery across roughly 25–35 hours.

6. Blasphemous 2 #

Blasphemous 2 makes religious horror feel like the foundation of its world, rather than decoration applied afterward. Its bodies, buildings, and rituals share the same unsettling logic. Compared with Silksong's nimble action, you get a more deliberate weapon-driven rhythm, with three distinct weapons shaping both your fights and your movement through the map.

Why It's Ranked Here: Unmistakable art direction meets a meaningful weapon system. It earns sixth as a more concentrated alternative to Silksong's sprawling journey, particularly if atmosphere matters as much as mechanics.
Who It's For: You want grotesque imagery, deliberate action, and a world steeped in guilt, miracles, and Iberian religious art.
Key Selling Points: Three weapons with different rhythms and traversal uses; prayer-based customization; detailed environments that make exploration visually rewarding.

7. ANIMAL WELL #

That bubble wand isn't finished surprising you. Neither is the room you walked through an hour ago. ANIMAL WELL keeps finding new uses for familiar objects, so progress depends on what you notice as much as what you collect. Compared with Silksong, it shifts the challenge from winning fights to understanding a strange, interconnected place.

Why It's Ranked Here: Its puzzle density earns seventh in this mixed ranking, but it is our first choice for exploration built around discovery rather than combat. Learning a tool's hidden use can feel like unlocking a new ability.
Who It's For: You like experimenting without instructions, keeping track of unresolved mysteries, and leaving a puzzle alone until an idea arrives.
Key Selling Points: Multipurpose tools; no conventional combat system; layered secrets beyond the initial ending; sparse, unsettling sound design. Expect roughly 10–15 hours before deeper investigations.

8. Guacamelee! 2 #

Your wrestling moves do double duty here: they batter enemies and carry you through platforming challenges. Switching between the living and dead worlds adds another layer to that choreography. Compared with Silksong's lonely pilgrimage, Guacamelee! 2 is a noisy, comic adventure you can share locally with three friends. Just don't mistake the jokes for easy platforming.

Why It's Ranked Here: Eighth rewards a combination the rest of this list barely offers: comedy, local co-op, and traversal built around brawler moves. It is shorter than the leaders, but that compactness suits its pace.
Who It's For: You want a couch game for friends or a partner, or simply need a break from solemn ruined kingdoms.
Key Selling Points: Up to four-player local co-op; dimension-switching puzzles; combat moves woven into traversal; roughly 8–12 hours at a supplied $4.99 sale price.

9. GRIME #

Your head is a void, and your defensive move involves absorbing enemies. GRIME commits to that strangeness. Its sculptural creatures make the world feel like a gallery that has started moving around you. Compared with Silksong, the attraction is a heavier, more deliberate combat rhythm and the peculiar connection between absorbing enemies and developing your character.

Why It's Ranked Here: The absorption mechanic and sculptural world earn it a place. It lands ninth because its particular combat rhythm and imagery are more specialized draws than the leaders' broad mix of strengths.
Who It's For: You like unusual creature design, deliberate encounters, and games whose worlds take some effort to get comfortable in.
Key Selling Points: Absorption-based defense and progression; multiple build options; a distinctive 3D visual style within a 2D exploration structure.

10. Axiom Verge #

Something looks broken. Good. In Axiom Verge, corrupting enemies and parts of the environment is a way to uncover possibilities. It leans closer to Metroid's alien isolation than Silksong's melee-driven adventure, with strange weapons doing much of the talking. The appeal isn't simply retro familiarity; it's learning when an apparent glitch is actually an invitation.

Why It's Ranked Here: Its glitch-based exploration gives this list a distinct final pick. It offers a more compact trip than Silksong, with enough mechanical identity to justify the place without leaning on nostalgia.
Who It's For: You like alien science fiction, ranged weapons, pixel art, and the feeling of investigating technology you don't quite understand.
Key Selling Points: The Address Disruptor's environmental tricks; unusual weapons; cohesive music and art; roughly 10–15 hours at a supplied $4.99 sale price.

Comparison Table #

Prices reflect the supplied US snapshot, not a live price check. Hours are approximate; the Dead Cells figure is especially dependent on how far you pursue its difficulty ladder.

Game	Genre	Why It's Ranked	Price (USD) / Hours
Hollow Knight: Silksong	Action exploration	Best overall balance of dense exploration and demanding action	$19.99 / 40–60h
Hollow Knight	Action exploration	Exceptional interconnected world and lasting value	$14.99 / 40–60h
Ori and the Will of the Wisps	Platform adventure	Fluid traversal and a welcoming introduction	$2.99 sale; $29.99 regular / 12–20h
Dead Cells	Roguelite action	Strongest repeat-run appeal and weapon variety	$12.49 sale; $24.99 regular / 20h+, repeatable runs
Nine Sols	Taopunk action	Focused parry combat and substantial storytelling	$29.99 / 25–35h
Blasphemous 2	Dark fantasy action	Religious horror with meaningful weapon choices	Sale $11.24 / 15–25h
ANIMAL WELL	Puzzle exploration	Layered discoveries and ingenious tool reuse	$17.49 sale; $24.99 regular / 10–15h, plus deeper secrets
Guacamelee! 2	Comedy brawler platformer	Local co-op and inventive combat-traversal overlap	$4.99 sale; $19.99 regular / 8–12h
GRIME	Surreal action exploration	Absorption combat and sculptural creature design	$24.99 / 12–20h
Axiom Verge	Retro sci-fi exploration	Glitch-driven discovery and alien atmosphere	$4.99 sale; $19.99 regular / 10–15h

Discounted prices move often; the store pages linked above carry the live numbers.

How to Pick the Right One #

Want a handcrafted exploration marathon? → Hollow Knight: Silksong or Hollow Knight; choose Axiom Verge for a shorter journey with the same exploratory pull.

Want combat depth first? → Nine Sols for deflections, Blasphemous 2 for distinct weapon styles, or Dead Cells for repeated build experiments.

Want visuals and sound to lead? → Ori and the Will of the Wisps for flowing animation and orchestral music, or GRIME for an unsettling sculptural world.

Want puzzles and secrets first? → ANIMAL WELL for layered mysteries, or Axiom Verge for strange tools that alter your surroundings.

Want comedy or couch co-op? → Guacamelee! 2.

Want to spend under $5? → At the supplied sale prices, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Guacamelee! 2, and Axiom Verge qualify. Check the price before buying.

FAQ #

I'm new to metroidvanias—where should I start? #

Start with Ori and the Will of the Wisps if you want clear momentum, satisfying movement, and difficulty options. Guacamelee! 2 is another good entry if comedy and local co-op appeal, though its platforming can still push you. Choose Hollow Knight: Silksong if you're comfortable learning through failure and want a substantial challenge immediately. Our number one isn't automatically the best first game for every player; pick the kind of challenge you actually enjoy.

Should I play Hollow Knight before Silksong? #

I'd play Hollow Knight first if you have time for both. Meeting Hornet there gives you more context for her turn as the lead, and you get to experience how the movement and combat change between games. Silksong can still be your starting point; playing the original isn't a requirement. At the supplied prices, the pair totals $34.98. The larger commitment is time: these are two substantial adventures, so there's no need to rush either.

Which one lasts the longest? #

Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hollow Knight offer the longest campaign estimates here, at roughly 40–60 hours each before you account for every optional challenge. Dead Cells can occupy you much longer if its repeated runs and rising difficulty click. ANIMAL WELL works differently: its initial journey is relatively compact, but deeper secrets can turn it into a much longer investigation. Decide whether you want more territory, more attempts, or more mysteries before comparing the hours.

Any hidden gems in here for genre veterans? #

GRIME is the most alien of the set — parrying becomes devouring, and its sculptural creatures look like nothing else on this list. ANIMAL WELL wins on puzzle density, with a full layer of secrets waiting past the credits. Axiom Verge remains a one-person milestone whose glitch-driven mechanic still has no real substitute. All three sit lower in the ranking, but each holds an angle nobody else covers.

Are these good on Steam Deck or a controller? #

All ten include controller support, so a pad is a sensible way to approach this list. For Steam Deck, check each game's current compatibility information before buying; controller support alone doesn't establish handheld performance or text readability, and this ranking isn't a Deck test report. Long adventures can fit short sessions, but demanding bosses and precision platforming still need concentration. Pick whichever control setup feels most consistent to you, especially when timing starts to matter.