Metroidvania Fast Travel and the Shape of a Game Map

The walk before the shortcut

Metroidvania fast travel starts before the jump. A station can be near a room on the map and still require a long route around a wall. To understand how a station serves the surrounding area, count the connections a player can actually use to reach it.

Imagine five rooms in a line, with the only doors between A and B, B and C, C and D, and D and E. A station in C covers three rooms within one door, including C itself. Put it in E and it covers two. The number of stations stays the same.

How the study counted connections

In July 2026, Bao and colleagues compared Hollow Knight, Blasphemous 2 and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. They counted scenes within reach of teleport points, measuring connections without dedicated fast-travel links.

On the five-room map, keeping the shortcut out of the count lets you ask how easily the player can reach its entrance. Once the player arrives at a station, where it can take them becomes another part of the trip. Two equally easy stations to reach could offer very different destinations.

Three layouts placed stations differently

With few connections, The Lost Crown’s stations covered more of its map than random placements. Hollow Knight was near or below its own baseline. The study classified Blasphemous 2’s travel between save points separately.

Each random comparison uses its own map. In the invented corridor, even a station at the edge is a few doors from most rooms. Add a long branch and a hub could be close to the central route but still leave the far end with a long approach.

Check when the shortcut becomes available

Ubisoft’s May 2024 Boss Attack update added travel between Wak-Wak trees in The Lost Crown. Its instructions say the ability requires the Fabric of Time power and a purchase from the Magi Emporium.

A station’s position can stay fixed as its use changes. Imagine the fictional station in C is inactive on your first visit. The map still gives you routes to C, but any plan that assumes you can teleport from it has left out a rule. A later map of available routes could give the same room a different role.

Room counts leave out the effort of a route

Connections were treated as two-way. The model leaves out unlock timing and player route choices.

One doorway could lead into a room you cross in seconds. Another could lead onto a narrow climb that takes several attempts. Counting connections gives each doorway the same weight. To estimate the time a trip takes, you would also need to know what the route asks the player to do.

Map the trip at the point you are playing

Pick a starting room and a return destination. On a small sketch, mark the exits and stations you can use at that stage of the game. Count connections to the next station, then look at where its service goes and how far the arrival point is from your destination.

Try the exercise before and after one shortcut unlocks. The added connection may help with a particular return trip while leaving a side branch just as far away. That gives you a specific route to compare if you want to see where the shortcut saves time.

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