GamesEven without Hollow Knight: Silksong, these 10 games prove that 2024 might just be the best Metroidvania year everWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesEven without Hollow Knight: Silksong, these 10 games prove that 2024 might just be the best Metroidvania year everWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
Metroidvania fans didn’t just eat well this year—they got gout. Practically every month seemed to boast another brilliant explore-‘em-up that made me fall back in love with one of the most oversaturated genres in gaming.
It was ridiculous. ‘This is the best combat system I’ve ever seen in a Metroidvania,’ I’d think, naively, only foranothergame to then snatch that crown a few months later. Narrowing down this list to just ten games nearly cost me what remains of my hair. Enjoy!
10. Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus
(Image credit: Squid Shock Studios)
Steam
9. Stardust Demon
(Image credit: resnijars)
Steam
8. Minishoot’ Adventures
(Image credit: SoulGame Studios)
Where in the rulebook does it say that a twin-stick bullet hell shootercan’tbe adorable? Well, I’m tossing the rulebook out of the cockpit, because Minishoot’ Adventures is a delight, questionable apostrophe use in the title and all. Exploring Zelda-like dungeons as an increasingly-mighty little spaceship is such an inspired genre mash-up that I keep having to pause the game to applaud and throw flowers at it. It’s not afraid to crank up the difficulty, but the cutesy graphics and cheery vibe made it a lovely little Steam Deck companion to chip away at for a couple hours each evening. Bullet Hell? More likeBullet Heave- NO NO NO BAD.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Steam
7. Porgy
(Image credit: Mossmouth)
Steam
6. BioGun
(Image credit: Dapper Dog Digital)
The only game on this list where you can race a sperm suffering from depression, BioGun is essentially ‘The Fantastic Journey’except inside a poorly dog. You’re a pig-shaped vaccine that’s been injected inside that poor boy, and you have to blast your way through its innards to hunt down a deadly virus. The biogun of the title is a terrific punchy firearm that makes pew-pew-pewing through this winning Super Metroid riff an onlyslightlydisgusting treat. Biogun is the silliest game on this list, but takes being a great shmup-flavoured Metroidvania seriously. Runs like a bit of a dog on both my PC and Rog Ally, annoyingly, but that’s at least thematically appropriate. Good boy!
Steam
5. Ultros
(Image credit: Hadoque)
A rare game set in space that actually feels truly alien, Ultros is beautiful, baffling, and too idea-filled not to earn a high place on this list. Explore a space sarcophagus full of opportunities to, er, plant blood-spouting trees. Oh, and monsters that need to be sliced up with precision if you want to get the most nutritional value out of scoffing their insides. You’re also stuck in gaming’s billionth bloody timeloop, but before you sigh and move on to entry four, rest assured it actually feels novel here as you learn the odd, gardening-heavy rules of exactly what persists between time hops. Obtuse, to say the least, but stick with it and you’ll find a true original, not to mention a stunning treat for the eyes.
Steam
4. Crypt Custodian
(Image credit: Kyle Thompson)
The nicest game about a dead cat I’ve ever played, Crypt Custodian sees a poor feline prematurely entering the afterlife. After a hilariously unfair miscarriage of justice, they’re denied entry to paradise and end up in limbo working as a janitor. Thus begins a cute quest to make ten friends (awww!) so you can break into Heaven (oh wow OK). Incredibly sweet one second, harsh bullet hell Metroidvania the next, Crypt Custodian is about as charming as games can be while still being thrillingly challenging.
Steam
3. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
Steam
2. Nine Sols
(Image credit: Red Candle Games)
The parry-or-perish combat that plays like a 2D Sekiro was outstanding already. But then Nine Sols revealed an explosive talisman system wherein you basically slap a grenade on an enemy then walk off like it’s no big deal as it detonates, and I fell hopelessly in love. This also boasts a fantastic story, beautiful animation, a series of shit-eating bosses that would make Kojima proud, horror sequences that remind you that this developer made the Detention series… This game would likely be my personal number one on a list ofallgames that came out in 2024, had Balatro not selfishly decided to exist. The fact it’snotthe year’s number one Metroidvania is, frankly, preposterous. But for that we can blame…
Steam
1. Animal Well
(Image credit: Billy Basso)
Strips down the Metroidvania to the very core (seriously, it’s only 33 MB big), and then builds it back up with its own marvellous ideas. Animal Well gleefully snubs cliches like the double jump or any weapons at all in favour of new, literaltoys, like a frisbee, slinky, and bubble wand. Discovering how these initially useless-seeming tools have opened up new routes of navigation and puzzle solutions leads to a seemingly endless series of eureka moments.
Steam
More about gamesActivision will send you alarmingly detailed data for every single Call of Duty match you’ve played in the last 4 years if you ask, and players are using it to figure out their mysterious SBMM rankingsHere’s a game about being a depressed, lonely maintenance robot on a long-haul space colony shipLatestWatching an all-romances speedrun of the legendarily janky Fallout: New Vegas is a delightSee more latest►
More about gamesActivision will send you alarmingly detailed data for every single Call of Duty match you’ve played in the last 4 years if you ask, and players are using it to figure out their mysterious SBMM rankingsHere’s a game about being a depressed, lonely maintenance robot on a long-haul space colony shipLatestWatching an all-romances speedrun of the legendarily janky Fallout: New Vegas is a delightSee more latest►
More about gamesActivision will send you alarmingly detailed data for every single Call of Duty match you’ve played in the last 4 years if you ask, and players are using it to figure out their mysterious SBMM rankingsHere’s a game about being a depressed, lonely maintenance robot on a long-haul space colony ship
More about games
Activision will send you alarmingly detailed data for every single Call of Duty match you’ve played in the last 4 years if you ask, and players are using it to figure out their mysterious SBMM rankingsHere’s a game about being a depressed, lonely maintenance robot on a long-haul space colony ship
Activision will send you alarmingly detailed data for every single Call of Duty match you’ve played in the last 4 years if you ask, and players are using it to figure out their mysterious SBMM rankings
Activision will send you alarmingly detailed data for every single Call of Duty match you’ve played in the last 4 years if you ask, and players are using it to figure out their mysterious SBMM rankings
Here’s a game about being a depressed, lonely maintenance robot on a long-haul space colony ship
Here’s a game about being a depressed, lonely maintenance robot on a long-haul space colony ship
LatestWatching an all-romances speedrun of the legendarily janky Fallout: New Vegas is a delightSee more latest►
Latest
Watching an all-romances speedrun of the legendarily janky Fallout: New Vegas is a delight
Watching an all-romances speedrun of the legendarily janky Fallout: New Vegas is a delight
Watching an all-romances speedrun of the legendarily janky Fallout: New Vegas is a delight
See more latest►
Most Popular
This bizarre roguelike has a new take on the Vampire Survivors formula: letting you build your own custom weapons out of brains, eyeballs, and chimpanzee spines
18 games the PC Gamer team can’t wait to play in 2025
The Witcher 3’s now 2-year-old bonus quest is our first taste of the ‘vibe’ CD Projekt is going for in The Witcher 4
2024 was the year updates for old games beat out all the new ones for me
Train like you game with this adventure-inspired workout
‘It’s simply impossible to make a difficulty level that’s just right for all players’: How Final Fantasy 14’s lead battle designer has been playing a precarious balancing game for Dawntrail’s dungeons and raids
Please join me in getting super excited for all the cool looking survival games coming in 2025 (and beyond)
Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: ‘sweaty’ teamplay vs. casual fun
Call of Duty’s $28 Squid Game skins are the perfect crossover for our capitalist dystopia, and Activision knows exactly what it’s doing
These are the 14 biggest upcoming RPGs of 2025—get ready for another amazing year for the genre
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS
1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
1
Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
2
Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
3
Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
4
Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
5
Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review
1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review
1
Thank Goodness You’re Here! review
2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review
2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review
2
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review
3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
3
WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
4Ikea Utespelare desk review
4Ikea Utespelare desk review
4
Ikea Utespelare desk review
5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
5
Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
