Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗Ex Vitro
Evolver Dynamics · Published by Evolver Dynamics
Content notice: Gameplay consists of killing and/or injuring enemies using sci-fi themed weapons, resulting in them emitting yellow or red blood and leaving behind corpses. Datalogs found throughout the game contain cursing, references to violent or dangerous behavior, and mention murder, suicide, and genocide.
Very Positive — 94% positive (153 reviews) · 19 achievements
Last updated 27 Sept 2026
EX VITRO is a dark sci-fi 2D platformer where you delve into the ruins of a military research facility and discover the horrors within. Whether machine, creature, or something else entirely, you’ll face the violent legacy of the last survivors of humanity.
Free
Action, Adventure, Indie, Free To Play · 2024 · More free games
Delve into the ruins of Ex Vitro, an action-packed 2D platformer where you uncover the terrifying legacy within. Free to play, this indie adventure challenges your skills in Evolver Dynamics' grimly detailed world.
About this game
FEATURES:
- A retro love letter to the Metroid series, with a few quality of life adjustments, such as teleporters, rechargeable ammo, item collection tracking by area, and more
- Discover journal entries hidden throughout the facility, explaining the grim fate of humanity and its war against the galaxy
- Uncover the nature of the main character and their role in the conflict
- Collect and upgrade powerful weapons
- Traverse 8 different biomes, each with their own inhabitants, secrets, and traps
- Fight multiple massive boss enemies
- Unlock 2 endings based on item completion
- Original music tracks by Sam Bionn
STORY:
By the end of the twenty-second century, Earth was a dry, arid husk. Billions of humans were crowded into overpopulated shelters, rife with disease and death. Just as their ancestors did so long ago, humanity looked to the stars for salvation. Using incredible technologies designed out of desperation, billions of people forged journeys into the darkness, establishing vast networks of interstellar colonies. The discovery of countless forms of alien life was met with indifference - an indifference that quickly turned to contempt. A powerful human military, honed by centuries of warfare, overpowered and conquered isolated alien worlds, claiming them as new territory for the massive human diaspora.
Humanity had avoided extinction and resettled itself, but had made a galaxy of enemies in the process. Survivors of countless fallen alien worlds banded together, and launched a suicidal campaign of revenge against the upstart race. All of humanity’s military and technological advances crumbled under the fury of an enraged galaxy, and soon, only a few million people remained, hidden in isolated pockets across the stars.
Once again faced with extinction, humanity turned to the tool that had brought them to the stars: innovation. But now, surviving military leaders were uninterested in saving lives or defending worlds. Their focus was far more singular - the eradication of everything. Terrible, reality-warping weapons were created by bending the very laws of nature. Captured alien species were spliced together and twisted into genetic abominations. Artificial intelligences were designed and built to brutalize their enemies, stripped of any ethical or moral restraint.
But there were a few dissenters. Not everyone believed that humanity’s last acts should be dedicated to nihilism. Some tried to reason with those in charge. Some refused their orders.
And a small number decided to act.
DEVELOPER’S NOTE:
Ex Vitro began its development many years ago as a tribute to one of the greatest games of all time: Super Metroid. I quickly realized any fangame would be squashed with legal trouble, so I shifted the graphics to my own design and tried to ride the line between ‘tribute’ and ‘knock-off’. It remains to be seen how successful I was, but as a solo developer, I learned a lot about game design in the process. It was the first game I started making, and it contains all of the lessons I learned along the way. Due to its origin, I feel that it’s unfair to charge for it. But I’ve included a bonus pack to go with it, if you want to support future development of new games by me!
BONUS PACK INCLUDES:
- Instructions on how to build your very own Terrarium! (with special tips from the Facility Administration on how to care for genetic abominations)
- 3 original music tracks by Sam Bionn
- High res concept art images of the character, final boss, and ending slides
- High quality wallpapers with various resolutions
- Royalty-free sprite sheets of unused graphics that never made it into the game, and behind-the-scenes descriptions of why they weren’t included
- 8 Royalty-free tilesets of every environment from the game
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
Minimum:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS *: Microsoft 64-bit Windows 7
- Processor: 64-bit Intel Compatible Dual Core CPU
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: DX11 Compliant Graphics Card
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 250 MB available space
Recommended
Recommended:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Microsoft 64-bit Windows 10
- Processor: 64-bit Intel Compatible Quad Core CPU
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: DX11 Based Graphics Card
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 250 MB available space
Supported Languages
English
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
Update on Next Game
So we’re still plugging away at the prototype for our next game, and I guess this will be a kind of developer update/blog/thing to let you know where we currently stand! The past few months I’ve been getting the basics of the engine set-up: all of the typical platformer abilities like running, jumping, dashing, shooting, etc., as well as other systems like teleporters, gates and switches, journals, and a save system. None of it is particularly glamorous, but I think it already has some better (and smoother) functions than Ex Vitro! At the moment, I’m working on enemy AI, which is going to be a little more complex than Ex Vitro’s, with stuff like herbivores and carnivores and much more reactive ecosystems. As you can imagine, it’s a bit of a step up from enemies that just walk back and forth along platforms! One of the current main goals is to have the environment change in different ways when the populations of these creatures go up or down (either directly or indirectly due to the player’s actions). I’m experimenting with a few different ways of approaching this, but above all I want to make sure it feels fun and impactful to play with. There’s a bit of a balance between making it too much like a simulation versus having it more scripted, but we’ll see how it goes and which one works better. As this is still so early, things may end up changing completely if none of it feels fun! Anyway, the prototype itself is probably still a few more months away, but it’s inching forward. To give you some idea of what things will potentially look like, here’s some of the concept art so far:Read full article on Community Announcements (EvolverDynamics)AnnouncementsOfficial
The Future
I have some amazing news! I was recently awarded a grant to begin development on my next game! It funds the creation of a prototype, which is currently underway! Unlike the development of Ex Vitro and Mycocosm, I want the development of this next game to be far more open and transparent, and I want to get as much feedback as early as I can. So over the next few months, I’ll be dropping concept art, blog posts, and other tidbits about the game as it takes shape. And once the prototype is in a playable state, I’ll start inviting players to try it out! My plan for the new game is to double down on the parts of Ex Vitro that people seemed to like, and fix/improve the stuff that people didn’t. Also, I have a few gameplay hooks in mind that I hope will make the game stand out in the Metroidvania crowd... I’m positive that one of the main reasons I even got the grant was because of the positivity and support I received from you guys here on Steam, so I can’t thank you enough for giving me a chance! This next game will be dedicated to everyone who left a comment, wrote a review, or simply played something I made (whether it was for one minute or three hundred!). Stay tuned… Alex This future is possible with support from: https://custom-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,fl_lossy,h_9000,w_1200,f_auto,q_auto/7627357/799713_871799.png and https://custom-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,fl_lossy,h_9000,w_1200,f_auto,q_auto/7627357/475028_796233.pngRead full article on Community Announcements (Adjuvant)Patch NotesOfficial
Patch 1.03 Now Available
Added Features: An XMP generator machine has been added in the room before the final portal In areas of high XMP radiation, the map screen is distorted in addition to the mini-map Added global volume control in the Main Menu options screen Added a magnifier option to the map screen Added an Easter Egg to celebrate the launch of my new game, Mycocosm! (with a new, hidden achievement) Hint: To unlock it, after reaching 100% item collection, find a room with a large fungal overgrowth… Bug Fixes: Fixed issue with antlion/barnacle claws trapping player if the enemy is killed while closed Fixed level geometry in upper part of vertical jungle room with melon spitters Small bouncing slimes should no longer be destroyed if hitting playerRead full article on Community Announcements (Adjuvant)Patch NotesOfficial
Update on Version 1.03
Sorry for the lack of news on the next patch! As you can imagine, getting the new studio up and running is keeping me very, very busy! Anyway, I’m aiming to get 1.03 finished early in the new year, and there should be fixes to a few of the bigger issues still outstanding from the last version. I’m also cooking up plans for a fun little easter egg as well, related to a smaller side project I just uploaded to Steam over here. END CROSS PROMOTIONAL SEGMENT NOW But more related to Ex Vitro and its future, I’ve been busy with applying for grants and looking into funding to help get a certain unannounced project up and running. I’m not going to make any promises right now about the status of that particular project, but anyone who liked Ex Vitro might be curious about it… AlexRead full article on Community Announcements (Adjuvant)AnnouncementsOfficial
Future of Ex Vitro Developer
Hey Everyone, It’s long been a dream of mine to start a game studio, and thanks to the positivity, kindness, and encouragement I received since the release of Ex Vitro, I decided to go ahead and do it! The company is called Evolver Dynamics, and I hope it lets me bring better games to you faster. I set up a company page on Steam right here. I thought I would use this update to explain what my philosophy is behind the new company and what I hope to achieve with it. Ever since I was a kid, dating all the way back to the NES era, I’ve been dreaming of making games. I’ve always played lots of different genres, but obviously the Metroidvania genre - and Super Metroid in particular - was the genre that really stuck with me. To this day, I'm still not sure if there's game quite like Super Metroid: the atmosphere, the mystery, the freedom, and the fact that the world felt alive. I truly felt like an intruder into a world that would continue on after I left it (ignore the game's ending, however!). Trying to recapture some of those feelings is part of what inspired Ex Vitro, but some of the journal entries in the game hint at my other interests too: symbiosis, ecology, and evolution (and what happens when these things go ‘wrong’ or become 'unnatural'). I feel that there’s a cool opportunity to bring some really fascinating biological concepts from the natural world into games. And not just as narrative hooks, but also potentially as game mechanics too. I think games are amazing tools for teaching people about concepts that are otherwise inaccessible or difficult to understand. While I don’t necessarily want to become a strictly educational game developer, I feel like it’s possible to strike a balance between something that’s fun to play and something that’s generally interesting to learn about at the same time. I’m really inspired by games that immerse you in a world and let you learn by osmosis, or that can spark a new interest in a subject. As an example, I've absorbed and ...Read full article on Community Announcements (EvolverDynamics)
