A Crash Course in Metroidvania Design | #gamewisdom #gamedev #metroidvania #indiedev #gamedesign

Channel:

Game Wisdom

Subscribers:

11,900

Published on July 12, 2025 10:48:17 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjfBubvxEX0

Duration: 0:00

180 views

15

The longest video on the channel is dedicated to metroidvania design, as I talk about what makes it unique and the dos and don'ts worth studying.

My book on metroidvania design: https://www.routledge.com/Game-Design-Deep-Dive-Metroidvania/Bycer/p/book/9781032943923

00:00 Intro
00:28 Metroidvania 100
11:54 OGVania
14:58 The Cores of Metroidvania Design
16:00 Movement Focused Metroidvania
18:36 Combat-Centric Metroidvania
22:03 Exploration Metroidvania
29:29 Wrong Upgrades
33:35 Stage-Based Metroidvanias
36:50 Shmupvania
38:14 Tiltvania
39:43 Metroidbrainia
41:56 Loopavania
43:58 Good Upgrade Design
45:13: Avoiding Downgrades
49:12 The Risks of Long Dev Cycles
54:25 Averagevania
56:47 3DVania
59:11 DreadVania
1:03:14 Bungeevania
1:05:38 Soulsvania
1:09:19 Roguelitevania
1:12:16 Roguelikevania
1:16:27 Shortvania
1:18:53 Alienvania
1:21:33 Randomvania
1:26:33 Sekirovania
1:31:37 Outvaniaing the Metroid
1:36:10 Supravania
1:40:33 Reversevania
1:45:33 The Best Metroidvania?
1:51:31 The Worst Metroidvania?
2:03:01 Wrapping Up
_____________________________________________________________
Join this channel to get access to perks:


Videogame streams are now archived on my secondary channel:    / @game-wisdomgameplay  

Books I've Written:

https://www.routledge.com/Game-Design-Deep-Dive/book-series/CRCGDDD?srsltid=AfmBOorwEmdBQkPdHBaNPYNjwqz5aOkGhU1jbj0Ebfd3ID3FPqfRi9SR

Additional Sites:

Main Site: http://Game-Wisdom.com/
https://anchor.fm/gamewisdom
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GWBycer
Paypal: http://paypal.me/GWBycer
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gwbycer.bsky.social
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/gwbycer
Discord: https://discord.gg/jGWxsj2eZH

for business inquiries: josh*at*game-wisdom.com
if you would like to be a guest for a future perceptive podcast: https://forms.gle/JAgBrChwEULY3FJr8

http://subscribeonandroid.com/game-wisdom.com/feed/podcast for Android and https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/game-wisdom/id1126129621?mt=2 for Itunes

#gamedesign