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The genre is named after two console games, Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but most of the metroidvanias people talk about now were made by small studios that launched on Steam. The recipe hasn't changed much: one big interconnected map, abilities that open paths you walked past an hour earlier, and bosses you only beat once you've learned them. What PC adds is price spread. The same game can cost €24.99 on Steam and €3.69 at a reseller.
We've picked fifteen, from Hollow Knight and Silksong to Nine Sols, ANIMAL WELL and Momodora, and checked what each one costs on Gocdkeys this morning. Twelve of the fifteen can be yours for less than €7 with fees. The dearest is ANIMAL WELL, at €13.52.
Playing on a console instead? We've written the same guide for Nintendo Switch, PS5 and Xbox.
Steam copy, gift or shared account: what you actually get
Most offers here are Steam Keys. You type the code into Steam and the game sits in your library for good, exactly as if you'd bought it from Valve. A Steam Gift ends up in the same place, except the seller sends the game to your account as a gift rather than giving you a code. Check the region on the offer before you pay.
Two games are cheaper outside Steam. For Silksong, the lowest price is a PC / Xbox Key for the Microsoft Store, which you play through the Xbox app. For Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown there's a Uplay Key that you activate in Ubisoft Connect. Both copies are yours; they just won't appear in your Steam library. SteamWorld Dig 2 is also sold as a GOG Key, with no DRM.
An Account is something else. It's the login to someone else's Steam account, one that already owns the game. It's cheap because the game never becomes yours, and it disappears the day the seller changes the password. It turns up as the lowest price for Hollow Knight and Nine Sols. We list it there, and we'd still buy the key.
The fifteen games and what they cost this morning
"Steam today" is the Steam store price right now, sale included. The last column is the cheapest copy that ends up on your own account, with fees.
| Game | Steam reviews | Steam today | Cheapest copy of your own (with fees) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hollow Knight | 96% | €14.79 | €6.78 (Gamivo, Steam Key) |
| Hollow Knight: Silksong | 89% | €19.50 | €9.99 (Instant Gaming, Microsoft Store key) |
| Ori and the Will of the Wisps | 96% | €2.99 | €2.99 (Steam) |
| Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition | 94% | €4.99 | €3.19 (HRKGame, Steam Key) |
| Dead Cells | 97% | €24.99 | €3.69 (Kinguin or Instant Gaming, Steam Key) |
| Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | 93% | not available | €1.43 (Kinguin, Steam Key) |
| Nine Sols | 94% | €28.99 | €7.97 (Itemku, Steam Key) |
| Blasphemous | 90% | €24.99 | €2.56 (YUPLAY, Steam Key) |
| ANIMAL WELL | 95% | €17.15 | €13.52 (Gamivo, Steam Gift) |
| ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist | 95% | €13.74 | €6.37 (Gameboost, Steam Key) |
| Axiom Verge | 90% | €17.99 | €3.24 (Gameboost, Steam Key) |
| Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | 84% | €8.99 | €6.54 (Gamivo, Steam Gift) |
| Laika: Aged Through Blood | 91% | €19.99 | €2.24 (Gameboost, Steam Key) |
| SteamWorld Dig 2 | 95% | €19.99 | €3.00 (Greenmangaming, Steam Key) |
| Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight | 93% | €9.99 | €1.89 (G2A, Steam Key) |
Team Cherry and Moon Studios: Hollow Knight, Silksong and Ori
Hollow Knight
A tiny Australian studio, Team Cherry, built Hollow Knight around Hallownest, a ruined kingdom of insects, and made you buy each area's map from a wandering cartographer before it showed up on screen. It's long, hard in places, and whole zones can pass you by if you don't go looking. Overwhelmingly Positive, 96% of 503,620 reviews. No other game on this list comes close in volume.
Gamivo's Steam Key is €5.59 with the coupon GCDKGamivo (€6.78 with fees), against €14.79 on Steam. Difmark sells an account for €1.92 with the coupon Gocdkeys (€2.01 with fees). For €4.77 more, the key gives you a copy nobody can take back.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
In Silksong you play Hornet, a boss from the first game, climbing through a new kingdom called Pharloom. She moves faster than the Knight, and the fights ask more of you from the opening hours. Plenty of players found it harsher than the original, which shows in the score: Very Positive, 89% of 387,544 reviews.
The cheapest copy isn't on Steam. Instant Gaming sells the PC / Xbox Key for the Microsoft Store at €9.99 (no fees). If you want it in your Steam library, Gamivo's Steam Key costs €10.97 with the coupon GCDKGamivo (€12.34 with fees), which is €2.35 more. Steam asks €19.50.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Moon Studios' second Ori sends the little spirit through Niwen in search of Ku, the owlet from the end of the first game. It keeps the platforming and adds a far richer combat system, with shards you swap in and out. Overwhelmingly Positive, 96% of 136,080 reviews.
This week the best price is on Steam itself: Ori and the Will of the Wisps is €2.99, 90% off its usual €29.99, until 1 October. No reseller goes lower.
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
The first game is more about platforming than fighting, and you create your own save points with the energy you collect, so you have to decide when a save is worth it. The Definitive Edition adds two areas to the original. Very Positive, 94% of 62,706 reviews. Steam has it at €4.99 until 1 October (normally €19.99), and HRKGame's Steam Key costs €2.79 with the coupon Gocdkeys12 (€3.19 with fees). Both Ori games together: €6.18.
Five for players who come for the combat
Dead Cells
Motion Twin mixed the genre with a roguelite. The island's layout changes on every run, and when you die you start over, keeping only a few permanent unlocks. Purists argue it isn't a true metroidvania, but runes that open new routes are straight from the genre. It's the best-rated game here: Overwhelmingly Positive, 97% of 156,472 reviews.
Dead Cells costs €24.99 on Steam. Kinguin's Steam Key is €3.09 with the coupon SEPGOC10 (€3.69 with fees), and Instant Gaming sells it for €3.69 (no fees). Same money either way.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Koji Igarashi produced Symphony of the Night, left Konami and raised the money for this one on Kickstarter. It's the closest thing to a new Castlevania you'll find. Miriam absorbs shards from the demons she kills, each giving her a new power, and the castle is packed with gear, recipes and secret rooms. Very Positive, 93% of 29,527 reviews.
It's also the cheapest game in the guide: Kinguin's Steam Key is €1.00 with the coupon SEPGOC10 (€1.43 with fees). Other shops are compared on our page to buy Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night key.
Nine Sols
Red Candle Games, the Taiwanese studio behind Detention and Devotion, went for something closer to Sekiro in 2D. In Nine Sols, Yi hunts down the nine rulers who wiped out his people, and almost every fight is won by deflecting at the right moment rather than dodging. Very Positive, 94% of 40,245 reviews.
It's the most expensive game on Steam in this list, €28.99. Itemku's Steam Key costs €7.22 (€7.97 with fees). Difmark's account is €4.19 with the coupon Gocdkeys (€4.38 with fees), but that's a shared account again.
Blasphemous
From The Game Kitchen in Seville. The Penitent One crosses Cvstodia, a land drawn from Andalusian Holy Week processions and Spanish baroque religious art, with some very bloody executions. Blasphemous is Very Positive, 90% of 54,825 reviews. Steam charges €24.99; YUPLAY's Steam Key costs €2.56 (no fees).
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Ubisoft Montpellier's take on the genre. Sargon, one of the Immortals, climbs Mount Qaf using time powers, and you can pin screenshots onto the map to remember a door you couldn't open yet, a small idea that helps a lot. Very Positive, 84% of 6,803 reviews, the lowest score here.
The Lost Crown is €8.99 on Steam. Gamivo has a Steam Gift at €5.36 with the coupon GCDKGamivo (€6.54 with fees), and a Uplay Key for Ubisoft Connect at €5.76 with the same coupon (€6.95 with fees). The gift is cheaper and lands on Steam.
ANIMAL WELL, Axiom Verge and SteamWorld Dig 2 put exploring first
ANIMAL WELL
Billy Basso made ANIMAL WELL almost entirely on his own. You're a small blob with no weapon at all, working through a well full of animals with tools like a yo-yo, a frisbee and a bubble wand. The first layer of secrets takes a few evenings. The deeper ones kept players busy for weeks. Overwhelmingly Positive, 95% of 22,838 reviews.
The cheapest key is Steam's own, €17.15 (no fees). Gamivo's Steam Gift costs €12.10 with the coupon GCDKGamivo (€13.52 with fees), €3.63 less.
Axiom Verge
Thomas Happ did the code, art and music for Axiom Verge by himself. It's the most Super Metroid-like game here: Trace, a scientist, wakes up in an alien world called Sudra, and one of his tools glitches enemies and walls on purpose to open paths. Very Positive, 90% of 5,844 reviews.
Steam: €17.99. Gameboost's Steam Key costs €3.09 with the coupon GCDK13 (€3.24 with fees); Instant Gaming has it at €3.29 (no fees).
SteamWorld Dig 2
Image & Form, from Sweden, built a metroidvania where you dig the map yourself. Dorothy, a steam-powered robot, tunnels down in search of a missing friend, selling ore on the surface to pay for upgrades. It's lighter and shorter than most of this list, a good first one. Overwhelmingly Positive, 95% of 5,704 reviews.
SteamWorld Dig 2 costs €19.99 on Steam. Greenmangaming's Steam Key is €3.00 (no fees), and GOG sells a DRM-free GOG Key for €3.59 (no fees).
Ender Magnolia, Laika and Momodora: three darker ones
ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist
The follow-up to Ender Lilies, from Adglobe and Live Wire. Lilac is an attuner, someone who can mend homunculi, the artificial beings poisoned by the fumes covering the land, and the ones she saves fight at her side. You don't need the first game to follow it. Overwhelmingly Positive, 95% of 17,163 reviews.
Steam asks €13.74 for ENDER MAGNOLIA. Gameboost's Steam Key is €6.09 with the coupon GCDK13 (€6.37 with fees). If you'd rather wait, set a price alert for ENDER MAGNOLIA.
Laika: Aged Through Blood
Spanish studio Brainwash Gang put a coyote mother on a motorbike in a desert wasteland. You go everywhere on the bike, and a backflip both dodges bullets and reloads your gun. It takes a while to click, then you stop thinking about it. Very Positive, 91% of 5,975 reviews. Laika costs €19.99 on Steam and €2.13 with the coupon GCDK13 (€2.24 with fees) as a Steam Key at Gameboost.
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
The shortest here, a couple of evenings. Kaho, a priestess, fights with a maple leaf through a cursed kingdom, and the bosses are tougher than the pixel art suggests. Very Positive, 93% of 10,514 reviews. Momodora is €9.99 on Steam; G2A's Steam Key costs €1.60 with the coupon GCKG2AN7C5E (€1.89 with fees).
Which ones to buy with €10 or €20
With €10 you can take Bloodstained, Momodora, Laika and Blasphemous for €8.12 with fees. Add the two Ori games before the Steam sale ends on 1 October and you have six for €14.30.
If you've never played one, start with Hollow Knight at €6.78 with fees and move on to Silksong if it hooks you. SteamWorld Dig 2 at €3.00 is the gentler way in. And if you want the whole list, each game as a copy of your own, it adds up to €75.40 with fees.
Prices checked on the morning of 29 September.
I have been a gamer for as long as I can remember, and for the last 14 years I have been making life easier for other gamers. CEO and co-founder of Gocdkeys.
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