Platformer games

The platformer is the genre that taught games how to feel good. Everything about it comes down to the relationship between a button press and a character's momentum — how fast you accelerate, how long you hang at the top of a jump, whether the game forgives an input a few frames early.

The sub-genres worth knowing

Precision platformers are built around short, brutal, immediately-retried challenges; death is cheap and the restart is instant, so the loop sits closer to a puzzle than a punishment. Metroidvanias trade that intensity for exploration, gating a large connected map behind abilities you find rather than doors you unlock. Puzzle-platformers use movement as a language, asking you to solve rooms rather than survive them.

Independent developers have done more interesting work here than in almost any other genre, largely because a platformer can be exceptional on the strength of its movement alone — no large art or writing budget required.

Controls and platforms

Input latency matters more in this genre than any other. A platformer that feels sluggish is not merely worse, it is broken, because the entire experience is the feel of the controls. That makes the platform a real consideration: most platformers are at their best with a controller or keyboard, and developers usually say so directly on the game page.

You will find platformers here across PC, console, handheld, mobile and the browser. Each listing tells you the supported platforms and control schemes before you commit, and links you to the store or download the developer chose.

Where to start

If you want a short, intense session, look for precision platformers — they are designed around dying often and restarting instantly. If you want something to live in for a while, look for metroidvanias. Most games here list an approximate playtime written by the developer.