Game Design Deep Dive: Metroidvania

by Joshua Bycer

Overview

Game Design Critic and expert Joshua Bycer is back with another entry in the Game Design Deep Dive series for a look at one of the most popular, and confusing, genres out there. Metroidvania is a genre of high‑highs and low‑lows, and Josh is taking up the task to explain what a metroidvania is, the very long history and variety of it, and what you need to do to create one yourself.

• A look at the history of metroidvania design

• A primer on 2D platforming UI/UX

• Explaining the design and specific elements that make a metroidvania or

could be applied to other genres

• Perfect for designers and students alike

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032943923
Publisher:	CRC Press
Publication date:	06/30/2025
Series:	Game Design Deep Dive
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Joshua Bycer is a Game Design Analyst with over a decade of experience writing for major sites, creating content on YouTube, and the author of the Game Design Deep Dive series. In that time through Game‑Wisdom.com, he has interviewed hundreds of game developers and members of the industry about what it means to design video games.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction, Chapter 2: The Metroid and the Vania, Chapter 3: Basic Metroidvania Design, Chapter 4: The 2010’s Metroidvania Extravaganza, Chapter 5: UI/UX of Metroidvanias, Chapter 6: Building a Metroidvania, Chapter 7: The Normal Ending