Cave Story is a freeware side-scrolling platformer created by Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya
over the course of five years, primarily during his free time in college.
The game follows a robot protagonist who wakes up in a mysterious cave with no memory
of how they ended up there. They soon meet a race of rabbit-like creatures called Mimigas,
the primary inhabitants of the cave. The game encourages exploration, not by directing the
player with quests or dialogue, but with careful level design that subtly guides players
while satisfying their curiosity with items, characters to meet, and lore.
Amaya originally released the game in Japanese in 2004 as a free download on his blog. Its
audience was largely expanded through fan translations, such as Aeon Genesis’s English
version in 2005.
Beginning in 2009, Cave Story was released commercially on several platforms,
including the Nintendo Wii, Apple Mac App Store, and Steam.
Due to Cave Story's development process and success, it is regarded as a prime example of what individual game developers are capable of. Some consider it to be one of the most influential games released within a decade of its debut.
Cave Story has also resulted in a very dedicated community, leading to the creation of various fan content, including music remixes, fan games, ports to other platforms, open‑source rewrites of the game’s engine, collaboration projects, and more.
Some of its dedicated fans have even pursued careers in game development, such as GIRakaCHEEZER, a developer of the 2016 indie game OneShot. It has also inspired well‑known indie game creators, including Toby Fox, the creator of Undertale.
The creator of Cave Story.
A fan‑made album of remixes of Cave Story's music by various artists.