Quick answer: Axiom Verge is a 2015 Metroidvania written, drawn, composed and programmed by one person, Tom Happ, over five years of evenings and weekends. It scored 89 on Wii U, 87 on Switch and 84 on PS4, and sits at 90% positive on Steam. It costs $19.99 and runs about 11 hours. There is a sequel from 2021, and Happ confirmed in 2025 that a third game is in development.
Original illustration created for IGGG Guides.
Most games credit hundreds of people. This one credits one. Tom Happ did the programming, the art, the animation, the music, the writing and the design, working evenings and weekends for five years while holding down a job as an engineer at Petroglyph Games. Partway through, Sony offered funding that let him finish it full time.
That's not a trivia fact, it's the reason the game feels the way it does. Nothing in it was designed by committee, and it shows in both directions.
How well did it actually do?
| Version | Released | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| Wii U | Sep 2016 | 89 |
| Nintendo Switch | Oct 2017 | 87 |
| Xbox One | Sep 2016 | 85 |
| PlayStation 4 | Mar 2015 | 84 |
| PC, Mac, Linux | May 2015 | 80 |
| PS Vita | Apr 2016 | 78 |
OpenCritic puts it at 85 with 83% of critics recommending it. Game Informer gave it 9.3, Eurogamer recommended it, IGN landed at 7.9. The publisher counted more than two dozen independent scores of 9 or higher. On Steam it holds 90% positive across more than 4,100 reviews, which is the kind of number that only appears when a game keeps converting people years after launch.
Worth noting the pattern there: the handheld and Nintendo versions scored highest. This is a game that suits short sessions and a controller, and the reviews reflect that.
The glitch gun is the whole point
Original illustration created for IGGG Guides.
Plenty of games copy Metroid. This one does something nobody else had: it gives you a weapon that corrupts the game itself.
Point it at an enemy and the enemy breaks. Some seize up, some flip into different behaviour entirely, some become harmless, some become worse. Point it at the world and scenery glitches into passable geometry, hidden rooms surface, and sequences you were supposed to reach much later open early. It is deliberately unstable, and the instability is authored rather than accidental.
Calling it a toy undersells it badly. It is the mechanical idea the whole game is built around, and it is the reason Axiom Verge gets talked about alongside the games it imitates rather than beneath them. If you want a sense of how rare that kind of single strong idea is, compare it with the other side-scroller we covered recently in our F.I.S.T. review, which is well made but conventional.
What it's like to play
You are Trace, a scientist who wakes on an alien world after a lab accident, with a distant voice guiding him and most of the local wildlife trying to kill him. The loop is textbook Metroidvania: find a tool, use it to open a route you couldn't take before, repeat.
Where it modernises is in the small mercies. Save points are frequent and well placed, puzzles are obtuse without being unfair, and you are rarely genuinely lost. Trace moves quickly too, closer to an acrobat than to Samus Aran's armoured tank, which changes the feel of every fight.
The weapon count is the real draw for explorers. There are more than twenty distinct guns hidden across the map, most of them genuinely different rather than straight upgrades, and finding the right one often turns a difficult boss into a manageable one. Bosses are large, grotesque and will kill you repeatedly, which is survivable precisely because the save points are so generous.
The honest criticism, raised by IGN among others, is that the map never really evolves. Regions blur together, there is no single area you will remember the way you remember Metroid's best, and the story stays at arm's length throughout.
There's a sequel, and it isn't what you expect
Original illustration created for IGGG Guides.
| Axiom Verge | Axiom Verge 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 31 March 2015 | 11 August 2021 |
| Metacritic | 84 on PS4, up to 89 | 75 to 78 |
| You play | Trace, on an alien world | Indra, under Antarctica |
| Focus | Shooting, a huge arsenal | Exploration and puzzles, combat stripped back |
| Big idea | The glitch gun | Two overlapping worlds, plus a controllable drone |
| Length | ~11 hours, 15 to complete | ~8.5 hours, 15.5 to complete |
The sequel divides people, and the reviews show it clearly. PC Gamer gave it 87 and Nintendo Life 9 out of 10. IGN, GameSpot and Game Informer all landed around 7, and Metro gave it 6. The split is almost entirely about the combat, which Happ deliberately simplified. If the arsenal was what you loved about the first game, the sequel will disappoint you. If you were there for the world, it is arguably better.
It is also standalone, so you can start with either. Start with the first one anyway, because it is the better game and it is cheaper.
A third game is coming
On the Retronauts podcast in March 2025, Happ confirmed he is working on another entry in the series. He said he has sketched out several possible prequels but wants the next game to serve as a reasonable conclusion to the story told so far.
No date, no title, no platforms. Be patient with that: the first game took five years and the sequel took six, and he is still largely working alone. A studio of three hundred people gets cut the moment one game underperforms, as happened to the developers in our Saints Row review. A one-person studio just keeps going.
Buy, wait or skip
| You are | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A Metroidvania fan who missed it | Buy now | One of the genre's best, and a decade of discounts means it is almost never full price |
| On Switch or a handheld | Buy | 87 on Switch, 89 on Wii U. The portable versions reviewed best |
| You want experimentation | Buy | The glitch gun rewards messing about more than almost anything in the genre |
| Here for story and characters | Lower expectations | Even positive reviews call the plot forgettable |
| Already played it | Try the sequel, carefully | Different game. Less shooting, more exploring. Check a review that matches what you liked |
| You dislike backtracking | Skip | It is a purist take on the genre and makes no apology for it |
Where to get it
Both games are $19.99 and available on almost everything: PC via Steam, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, plus Mac and Linux. The first game also exists on Wii U and PS Vita if you still have one. Discounts are frequent and steep, and the two have been bundled together more than once, so check for a bundle before buying separately.
Downloads are tiny by modern standards, a few hundred megabytes rather than a hundred gigabytes. If your connection makes big installs painful, this is the opposite problem to the one we worked through in our Division 2 review.
Verdict
Strongly recommended, and still one of the best twenty dollars in the genre. The glitch gun is a genuinely original idea in a genre built on imitation, the arsenal rewards exploration properly, and the handling is sharper than the games it is modelled on. The map blurs together and the story never grips, but scoring 84 to 89 across six platforms, built by one person, remains a remarkable thing. Assessed against the current release, with the 2021 sequel covered separately above.
Frequently asked questions
Did one person really make Axiom Verge?
Yes. Tom Happ did the programming, art, animation, music, writing and design. He worked on it evenings and weekends for five years alongside a job at Petroglyph Games, and Sony later provided funding that let him finish full time.
How long is it?
Around 11 hours for a normal run and roughly 15 to find everything. The sequel is a little shorter at about 8.5 hours, or 15.5 for full completion.
Which platform is best?
Scores favour the Nintendo versions, 89 on Wii U and 87 on Switch, which suits a game well matched to short handheld sessions. Every current version is solid, so buy it wherever it is cheapest.
What is the glitch gun?
A weapon that corrupts the game's own systems. It breaks enemy behaviour in different ways depending on the target, and used on scenery it exposes hidden rooms and lets you reach areas early. It is the game's defining mechanic.
Should I play Axiom Verge 2 first?
No. It is standalone so you can, but the first game reviewed better and is the stronger introduction. The sequel strips back the combat and leans on exploration, which divided the people who loved the original.
Is Axiom Verge 3 happening?
Happ confirmed on the Retronauts podcast in March 2025 that he is working on a new entry, intended to conclude the story so far. There is no date, title or platform list, and his previous games took five and six years each.
Is it just a Metroid clone?
The structure and tone are openly indebted to Metroid, with visible nods to Rygar, Contra, Bionic Commando and Blaster Master too. The glitch gun and the size of the arsenal are what make it its own thing.
Where to go next
- F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch, another strong Metroidvania almost nobody played
- Trek to Yomi, a side-scroller that leads with art direction instead
- Chernobylite, a small team that kept improving its game for years
- Saints Row, and what a hundred million dollar budget bought instead
- Why one person can now outdo a studio of hundreds
- Why smaller games keep being the ones you remember
- Browse more Action and Adventure guides
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