History Main / HubLevel

** ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie Video Game'' has four mini-hubs (Brickburg, the Wild West, Cloud Cuckooland, and Octan Tower), each with a good amount of collectibles and characters in each one.

* Despite being by far the largest area of the game, Dracula's Castle in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'' is a hub of sorts, because the meat of the game is in the worlds of the paintings scattered around the castle. ''Totally'' not a ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' ripoff.

-->-- '''SelfDemonstrating/GLaDOS''', ''VideoGame/Portal2''

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'':
** Inkopolis Plaza serves as the game's main hub, from which one can access all the different modes and stores. It is filled with the Inklings of other players, and drawings from the game's Website/{{Miiverse}} community appear as graffiti on the walls.
** Entering a manhole in the plaza will lead you to Octo Valley, the hub of the game's single-player campaign. It is divided into five areas, all of them filled with hidden kettles that are used as transport to the individual levels.
** By the time of ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', the hub area has shifted across town to Inkopolis Square. It largely serves the same purpose as Inkopolis Plaza, and contains more than a few {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s for certain shops from the first game. However, it also allows access to multiple new locations like [[MultiMookMelee Grizzco Industries]] and [[DownloadableContent the Deepsea Metro]].

just with different entrance and exit points depending on which visit you're on. They even have all of the exit triggers present from the first time through, so for instance it's possible to use noclip at one point to skip straight from the second level of the first chapter to its finale.

* An interesting variant in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'': You start the game playing as [[TheFaceless The]] [[FeaturelessProtagonist Rookie]]; during the combat-drop at the start of the game, the Rookie gets separated from the rest of the squad, and the landing knocks him unconscious for six hours. When he wakes up, he wanders the nighttime city streets (the hub) trying to find his squad. When you find a clue as to what happened to them, the game goes into a playable {{flashback}} where you control the squad member related to the clue you just found as the Rookie. When the flashback ends, you return to the Rookie, and go looking for another clue. The city streets don't allow much backtracking after each flashback mission. When the player takes control of the Rookie again, they find the previous area of the city has been locked up and the next is unlocked for them to search, thus allowing them to progress through the hub, exploring new areas after each mission.
* ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}}'' introduced support for hub levels to the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' FPS engine. Their presence both increased the areas players needed to search to find keys and triggers, and by ensuring the player would keep moving between them, allowed the side levels to be more strongly themed than would be the case if they were standalone levels as with the game's predecessor.

** ''LEGO DC Super-Villains'' has a hub with several parts: An amusement park run by the Joker, Gotham City, a swamp where the Legion of Doom’s lair is, Metropolis, Arkham Asylum, and Smallville. Later on, Apokolips is added as a separate hub accessible via a portal.

[[caption-width-right:304:Each one of these doors leads to a level, and this is just one of the many hub worlds in this game.]]

** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'' contains one in each world, which also provides the page image above.

* The hubs in the VideoGame/{{Lego Adaptation Game}}s are gradually populated with characters as they are unlocked... and you can even pick fights against them for the hell of it.

* ''Rayman Revolution'', the [=PS2=] port of ''VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape'', had a set of three large hubworlds as an upgrade from the previous versions.

* ''Videogame/TazWanted'', a GCN game about Taz the Tazmanian Devil destroying wanted signs and trying to rescure the She-Devil from Yosemite Sam, has 3 hubs. One hub is for the 3 "zoo" levels, with various tutorial books. The second hub is for the 3 town level, and the third is for the 3 Wild West levels. While there is a 10th level, it hasn't a hub.
* Despite being by far the largest area of the game, Dracula's Castle in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'' is a hub of sorts, because the meat of the game is in the worlds of the paintings scattered around the castle. ''Totally'' not a ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' ripoff.

* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'': Thorntail Hollow serves as the hub of the game world (Sauria), with paths going to many places on the planet's surface, a Warpstone to send you to two other places, and the Arwing to take you to the satellite regions (which were originally part of the planet itself before the BigBad destabilized them).
%%* Mean Street in ''VideoGame/EpicMickey''.
* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriorsOnline'' has 6 different hubs, one for each faction as well as the peach garden. Since there's not always 5 factions fighting, not all of them are always available, and you're usually not allowed to go to any more than two of them at a time.

* The ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'' games have many of these.
** Exemplifying with the first game: after saving the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, the heroes are relocated to Stark Tower, which serves as a hub until the Mandarin's Palace stage. After that, they are relocated to Sanctum Sanctorum, Dr. Strange's home. Then, after beating Mephisto's Realm, everyone heads off to Asgard (which seemingly works more like a hub than the others, since all other levels--except possibly for Niffleheim--ARE in Asgard), and from there to Attilan, when Uatu saves the heroes' bacon from Dr. Doom. After fetching the items necessary to beat him, they go back to Earth, as it is being modified by Doom, and stay at a Doom-themed Stark Tower before heading off to Latveria. In total, five hubs (or four if you count both iterations of Stark Tower as the same).
** SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/XMenLegends'' uses the X-mansion in the first game and various temporary bases in the second.
** ''Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2'' has an interesting twist on the hub levels. Since the game is about the Civil War, at the end of Act I you're forced to choose a side: Pro or Anti-Registration. Whichever side you choose determines the hub you're in for Act II: either Stark Tower, filled with SHIELD agents and Pro-Registration propaganda, or an old HYDRA base, re-purposed by Captain America as a base of operations for the Anti-Registration forces.
* ''VideoGame/{{Folklore}}'' uses the town of Doolin as a hub for getting into the various Netherworld realms and forwarding the plot in the world of the living.
* The sub-games of the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series like to use this trope: Castle Oblivion in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' and The Castle That Never Was in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2''.
* The village in Arcanus Cella in ''VideoGame/ClaDun''.

* The town of Redmont in ''VideoGame/{{Ys}} III: Wanderers from Ys'' and its remake ''[[VideoGame/YsTheOathInFelghana The Oath in Felghana]]''.
* Most of the major areas in ''[[VideoGame/WonderBoyIIITheDragonsTrap WonderBoy III: The Dragon's Trap/Curse]]'' are directly connected to the starting town.
* The main plot of ''VideoGame/{{Bastion}}'' revolves around rebuilding it using city cores that are picked up from various levels in the world map. The levels are not directly connected to the Bastion; rather, the hero flies to the levels from the titular Hub Level.

* ''VideoGame/DarkDevotion'' has the Filthblood Shelter, where you respawn after every death. It has doors leading to each of the game’s regions, though they do not open until you’ve found those regions through exploration, and there is a magical gateway which takes you to the last teleportation altar you’ve visited.

* Possibly the most surreal example is in ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'', where it even functions as a ''menu system'' and can be played as a ''deathmatch map''. This allowed for the hardest difficulty to be hidden ''within'' the hub. (The other three difficulties? They are the hub's ''entrances''.)
* ''Videogame/QuakeII'' has a hub level in almost all parts of the game, one exception is the Big Gun which is a map that stands on it's own.

* ''VideoGame/CliveBarkersUndying'' had whatever themed enemies populated the next level begin infesting the Covenant estate as a [[NowWhereWasIGoingAgain hint of where to go next]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}}'' introduced support for hub levels to the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' FPS engine. Their presence both increased the areas players needed to search to find keys and triggers, and by ensuring the player would keep moving between them, allowed the side levels to be more strongly themed than would be the case if they were standalone levels as with the game's predecessor.
* ''Videogame/{{Strife}}'', being the last commercial game known to use the Doom engine, also has more refined hub levels with [=NPCs=] to talk to and quests to undertake. There's usually only one way to advance the plot and acquire the story quest, and it's infamous that one early sidequest [[UnwinnableByDesign leads to an inescapable trap]] (that was fixed in the Steam remake).
* ''VideoGame/TekWar'' was one of the first games to feature a Hub, in this case a subway station.
* The early ''VideoGame/CatacombApocalypse'' has one level in the middle of the otherwise linear progression of the game giving access to a few others. However, the game doesn't really have the technology to do it properly, so to speak. It works on the same "access a new level through a special door" basis as the more linear levels, meaning that both the hub and each of the other levels will be reset each time you enter one of them. This also means that you can do the same sub-level more than once to get the keys to progress beyond the hub instead of doing each of the different sub-levels once.
* ''VideoGame/TheCatacomb'' had a linear progression from level 1 to level 10 (although level 4 also had an exit to level 14, and level 5 had unreachable fake "exits" to nonexistent levels 50, 70 and 90), but level 10 had exits to four other levels. Only one of these was the way forward (via an invisible secret exit), but the other three gave clues as to how to progress.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' [[GameMod total conversion]] ''Erodrome'' is one of the few mods of this engine to do this; it uses multiple copies of the Erodrome Station level with different entry points. Likewise for the Repository room in ''Tempus Irae'' and the Rozinante in the fan-made sequel ''Marathon Rubicon''.
* ''VideoGame/PathwaysIntoDarkness'': The Ground Floor.
* ''VideoGame/NosferatuTheWrathOfMalachi'': From the Courtyard, you can reach almost every area of the Castle, and most routes will take you back there eventually.
* ''VideoGame/AmidEvil'' has the Gateway of the Ancients where you select the difficulty and episodes, like in Quake, but much more extensive.

* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' takes place in the city of [[ViceCity Santa Destroy]], which may seem like a WideOpenSandbox to the untrained eye, but is in practice more of an extremely elaborate hubworld where the player can take menial part-time jobs and low-paying assassination gigs between tackling the game's boss levels. The sequel ''[[VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle Desperate Struggle]]'' averts this trope, as once Travis exits his apartment room you can select his destination through a menu.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'': Uniquely among the 2D games in the ''Mario'' franchise, the overworld map acts as a hub connecting the main Zones from the center (as each Zone already has its own map). This map also has a few levels on its own (though some require completing a Zone's level via a secret exit to access it), and it's also there where the final level (Wario's Castle, only available once all main bosses are defeated) awaits.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'': Delfino Plaza gives access to all the other levels, most of them via magical M-shaped paintings or red pipes. A grand total of 40 (out of 120) Shine Sprites can be collected here (though 24 of them can only be purchased with the blue coins scattered on all levels in the game).

* ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'': On first glance, the level select area looks just like the simple maps with branching paths from the ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' games. But you are able to freely walk around the area like you can in all the pre-''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' 3D games in the series.
* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' has Beanbean Castle Town as well as the areas surrounding it.
* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' uses Peach's Castle like in ''Super Mario 64'', with warps to the past, in a (fairly) rare RPG example.
* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'' has Pi'illo Castle and its grounds.
* The ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' games have [[VideoGame/PaperMario64 Toad Town]], [[VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor Rogueport/Rogueport Sewers]], [[VideoGame/SuperPaperMario Flipside/Flopside]], [[VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar Decalburg]], and [[VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash Port Prisma]].
* ''VideoGame/MarioPlusRabbidsKingdomBattle'': Like in ''Super Mario 64'', Peach's Castle appears as the hub level. Unlike in ''Mario 64'', however, the inside of the castle cannot be visited and the entrances to the various worlds are in the castle's surrounding area.

* Isle of Tims in ''VideoGame/BalanWonderworld'' acts as a playable level select where you can also feed the Drops you've collected so far to [[RaisingSim Tims]].
* ''VideoGame/CastleOfIllusion'', a 1990 game from Creator/{{Sega}}. It was the TropeMaker, as it was the first game to feature a hub building (castle), predating the TropeCodifier ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''.
* Creator/EpicGames' first ''VideoGame/JillOfTheJungle'' game uses this between levels. At first things are linear and it seems like a gimmick, but soon the same key-collecting and powerup-collecting mechanics from the levels themselves become necessary to progress ''between'' levels, and reaching the secret level requires some backtracking in the hub. Mercifully, the hub doesn't provide any enemies or ways for you to die. The second game had a purely linear progression while the third game adopted a top-down overworld.
* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'':
** ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' may be the first game that used the same engine in the "between levels" segments as in the stages themselves.
** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'' contains one in each world, which also provides the page image above.
** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'' has a MASSIVE hub level that had more and more accessible areas as you hit switches in the levels.
** The hub level from ''Adventure'' returns in ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', where it acts like the former minus the minigames and whatnot. The Lor Starcutter is this too, which contains minigames, copy ability rooms and challenge stages.
* ''VideoGame/MailMole'': Peaceful Plaza serves this purpose in the game, being the area where [[PlayerCharacter Molty]] returns to after making deliveries.

* ''VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus'' is the only game in its series that plays this trope straight. The [[VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves second]], [[VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves third]], and [[VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime fourth]] game actually made the hub location itself the main stage of the missions. There will be some few "mini-areas" in it, but generally a lot of the missions take place in the hub itself.

* Whispering Rocks Camp in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' is a good example, since the actual levels are inside the brains of the residents.
** The Collective Unconscious serves as a mini-Hub of sorts, allowing you to access people's brains even when they are not present in the actual Hub.
* Many ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' and ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' games have a Hub to connect their different levels.
** Most ''Crash'' game hubs from ''Crash 2'' onwards were small rooms with a bunch of doors, but ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacing'' had a bigger hub akin to ''Diddy Kong Racing''. ''Videogame/CrashTwinsanity'' and ''Tag Team Racing'' have one hub per world.
** The GBA and main console Spyro games prior to the Legend reboot tended to play with this trope. The hub levels tended to be levels in their own right as regards collectables like gems, eggs, orbs, dragons, etc., but had no enemies to threaten you. All of them also had multiple hubs that you usually needed to get to by beating all prior levels then killing the boss on the way.
*** All Homes in ''Spyro the Dragon'' except the Gnorc Gnexus (the hub of Gnasty's World) slowly became levels in their own right with increasingly deadly enemies and challenging platforming, while the Gnorc Gnexus was a circle with level portals attached and had no enemies whatsoever. The Artisans Home straddled the line in that it had enemies, but those enemies couldn't hurt you and only ran away. It's also the only hubbed Spyro game that doesn't require you to beat a boss to go to the next hub.
*** ''Ripto's Rage![=/=]Gateway to Glimmer'' has Summer Forest, Autumn Plains, and Winter Tundra as its hub levels.
*** ''Year of the Dragon'' has Sunrise Spring, Midday Gardens, Evening Lake, and Midnight Mountain as its hub levels.
*** The Super Bonus World in ''Year of the Dragon'', while technically a Midnight Mountain level and not a homeworld of its own, returns to the style of the original ''Spyro the Dragon'' homeworlds in that the world is a level in its own right, but with portals to the various minigames.
*** ''Videogame/SpyroAHerosTail'' played the trope the way Spyro 1 did: all hubs had dangerous enemies along with the usual collectables. Stormy Beach was the last supposed hub of the game and all the levels that come after it are done in a linear sequence.

* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'': DK Isles. There are eight main worlds, four of which (Jungle Japes, Angry Aztec, Fungi Forest and Crystal Caves) are accessed within Donkey Kong's island and the other four (Frantic Factory, Gloomy Galleon, Creepy Castle and Hideout Helm) are within the large Kremling ship. Also present are the artificial island where K. Lumsy is held captive (freeing him is required to unlock the FinalBoss) and the natural island where the Banana Fairy queen lives.
* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'': The region that encompasses the Windy chapter. All chapters' areas except that of Uga Buga can be accessed from here (Uga Buga requires entering through Sloprano instead).
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
** ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' have hub areas that serve as the literal hub of the space station you're exploring (BSL Research Station in the former, Bottle Ship in the latter).
** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'': The Luminoth specifically built the Great Temple at the center of their other three dwelling areas on Aether, hence, the hub area (Temple Grounds). Its DarkWorld equivalent is the Sky Temple Grounds, though it averts the trope as the other Dark Aether areas are not directly connected to it.
* The ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' series has the three incarnations of the LaResistance Base as a hub for missions: one is set in a city deep underground (1st game), the second is more elaborate with a harbor and turrets (2nd and 3rd), while the last is a two-truck trailer, with [[NewEden Area Zero]] just next door.
* All of the 3D ''VideoGame/{{Gex}}'' games have one of these. The second game has just one: The Media Dimension, the third has several that are also proper levels.
* Rainbow Cliffs in ''VideoGame/TyTheTasmanianTiger'' and The Outback in ''Bush Rescue''. Regarding the latter, instead of walking around it normally, you drive around it in a four-by-four.
* ''VideoGame/LodeRunner 2'' had one, aptly titled ''World Hub''. It was rather nice to look at, partially because one of the coolest of the game's seven tilesets (called ''Jump Station'') was dedicated to it exclusively. You couldn't even use it with the in-game LevelEditor unless you hacked your level files.

* An early example for platformers is ''VideoGame/TheAddamsFamily'' for the SNES. Entering the mansion leads to the [[ScoobyDoobyDoors Hall of Doors]]. Each one leads to a different series of rooms which in another game would count as a world. Some of these "worlds" even connect one another.
* ''VideoGame/JettRocket''[='s=] ship is a tiny version, with switches that lead to the level maps.
* ''VideoGame/{{Spelunky}}'' features the hub in which you unlock shortcuts to deeper levels by paying increasingly exorbitant prices which you will have to pay for within ''at least'' three playthroughs.
* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'':
** ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxterThePrecursorLegacy'': There are ''three'' hub worlds, each providing access to three different areas. Getting enough Power Cells in a world unlocks a fourth area which connects to the next hub world (or, in the case of the third, to the final level), giving the impression of traversing across one massive world instead of between a few disconnected areas. While the hub worlds themselves have no enemies, each one ''does'' have eight Power Cells of its own, though most are of the "bring X Precursor Orbs to Y person" variety.
** ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'' has [[ViceCity Haven City]], which has several gates scattered throughout that provide access to outlying areas which act more as levels in the traditional sense. However, unlike the first game's hub worlds, the vast majority of the game's plot occurs in Haven City, and the city itself houses quite a few of the game's missions as well.
** ''VideoGame/{{Daxter}}'': While the game also features Haven City as a hub world, in this game it's only a small section of the city, and it's a hub world in a much more traditional sense than the ''Jak II'' version.
* The pod in the first ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet''. In the third game, Manglewood, the Ziggurat, and Bunkum Lagoon each have one. They're full of prizes and the currency of the game, Collectabells, and have links to the main levels and some sidequests scattered about.
* ''VideoGame/{{Dustforce}}'' originally had a single massive hub level with stages scattered around it, clustered according to theme. This tended to confuse players as to where they should go, and as to the relative difficulty of stages, so early May 2012, coinciding with the release of the Mac version and the level editor, it was overhauled. Now, there's a small central hub containing the multiplayer, tutorial, level editor, and custom maps, as well as doors to the four areas or "themes." Within these, doors are arranged so that easier levels are easier to get to and usually closer to the door back to the main hub.
* Pinewood Heights from ''VideoGame/WithinADeepForest''.
* The ''VideoGame/DarkCastle'' games each featured hubs, with the hubs getting more complex as the series progressed:
** ''Dark Castle'' had the Great Hall, which provided a simple point-and-click choice between the 4 other areas.
** ''Beyond Dark Castle'' had the Ante Chamber, a more traditional hub room where you placed the orbs collected from the main levels in order to unlock the final level.
** ''Return to Dark Castle'' has a hub level connecting the hubs from the first two games as well as a hub for the new levels created for the game.
* ''[[VideoGame/JamesPond Robocod]]'', also known as ''Super James Pond'', is another early example, with Santa's Castle as the north pole linking all the levels together and providing a few bonus items and secret stages to the more intrepid player.
* Uberhub Zone in ''VideoGame/SonicErazor'' is a lot linear than most examples, basically being a straight shot to the ending, with each level accessed by falling down a hole (or, in the case of the two Special Places, giant rings). Progress is limited by doors that only open when their corresponding level is cleared. Finally, two giant rings on either side of the map access the options menu and the ending, respectively.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Flashback}}'', New Washington is laid out like this, in contrast to the other more linear levels.
* The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games have never been keen on implementing hub stages; perhaps the closest they get are the "adventure fields" in the original ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', which function like a series of interlinked hub stages characters are free to explore between accessing the regular levels.
* Pac's school in ''VideoGame/PacManAndTheGhostlyAdventures'' houses both the [[OverworldNotToScale overworld]], a screen tracking your collectibles, several characters to talk to, and finally some minigames to play.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Bonk}} Bonk's Revenge]]'''s final stage, the Moon Pyramid, has a central hub leading to its four sublevels, [[BossRush each ending with a boss rematch]]. After completing these, you fight the Round 6 boss followed by King Drool.
* The central hub in ''VideoGame/FreezeME'' is called, well, Hubbiton, and in addition to containing the entrances to worlds and sub-challenges, it also provides playground equipment you can practice your platforming on.

* ''Cauldron'' for the C64, released in 1985, might just be the Main/UrExample: as the witch, you must traverse an overworld full of enemies and keys to find. These keys open the doors to the various levels of the game, each containing a treasure needed to complete it. The overworld also connects to your house, which is where you must bring all the treasures. The levels are standard platformers, while the overworld uses the same engine but also lets you fly on your broom and shoot enemies down. Featuring so many different elements despite being such an early game, was probably what helped cement its status as a cult classic, in spite of its [[NintendoHard enormous difficulty]].
* ''VideoGame/AHatInTime'' features Hat Kid's spaceship. After losing its fuel all rooms are sealed off, and collecting said fuel in form of [[PlotCoupon Time Pieces]] gradually powers up more and more rooms, giving access to new chapters.
* Tak's village in ''VideoGame/TakAndThePowerOfJuju'' serves as the game's central hub. Not every level can be accessed through this hub, though- some need to be accessed by finding their entrances in other levels.

* ''VideoGame/Portal2'''s co-op mode features a hub area that connects the mode's five test courses. What you can access is determined by the farthest test chamber you or your partner have made it to, with any test courses/chambers beyond that locked and inaccessible. This effectively means that a first-time co-op player can access every test chamber from the start if their partner has completed them all, but then may find later chambers locked if they later switch to a partner who hasn't progressed as far. It also allows players to skip test chambers or even entire courses if they want. Because of this, a first-time player can literally go from the calibration course to the final test chamber and see the credits in a whopping ten minutes if they have the right partner. In a rare example, you can literally kill your robot off by jumping into the BottomlessPit below while in the hub, which [=GLaDOS=] proceeds to mock you or even be confused at how you died in an area that wasn't a part of the test. Since your robot always respawns after death with no ill repercussions, this example is most likely PlayedForLaughs.
* ''VideoGame/{{Repton}} 2''. All levels except the last two are accessed via transporters on the first level. In the PC remake, additional scenarios often have more complex structures, but having one or more hub levels is still common.

* ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple'': The "stage" maps have three or four puzzles each. These are connected together by three {{Hub Level}}s, each with a different theme that extends into the puzzle maps. These hubs in turn are linked by ''another'' hub with a fourth theme. You start the game in what is otherwise an ordinary puzzle map.

* ''VideoGame/TheFinalFantasyLegend'' has The Tower, which fits this trope in spades. Each floor offers a door to another whole world.

* ''VideoGame/MasterOfTheMonsterLair'': The town.
* Belles Fleurs Academy acts as the base of operations in ''VideoGame/OmegaLabyrinthLife'', much like Amberyl Academy in the previous two titles. Here, players can buy and sell supplies, craft items, and make permanent upgrades to their characters between dungeon runs, among other things.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters'' employs this trope more often than not:
** The first game had the kingdom of Greattree, which played this trope completely straight with swirling warpgates that would take the player to each level.
** DQM 2 mixed things up with the kingdom of Greatlog, which allowed the player to use keys to warp to each of the main story levels- or they could use special keys to warp to randomized custom maps.
** Joker 1 had Domus Isle, a bustling seaside city with jetskis that would take the player to each level.

* ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' originally did not have a Hub Level, and instead let characters wander the entire world on foot to get to the various dungeons and adventure areas. With the release of the ''Shadows of Luclin'' expansion a Hub Level called "The Nexus" was created that had portals to and from 4 of the 5 continents in the world and merchants that would sell to any character (and was located on the moon, essentially a sixth continent for gameplay). With the release of the next expansion, ''Planes of Power'' a new Hub Level called the "Plane of Knowledge" was created: an extraplanar city with trainers for all classes, shops selling almost everything that Player Characters would ever need to buy at a store, and portals to every single city in the game (which seriously cut down on the game's NintendoHard travel element).

* While rather small in comparison to some of the other examples, the Null Chamber from ''[[Website/GaiaOnline zOMG]]'' serves as both a respawn point, a transportation hub (provided you've attuned yourself to the relevant crystal), and the only place in the game world that allows you to power up and rearrange your rings.

* The city of Stormreach in ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'' is essentially this, though it was more prevalent in earlier versions of the game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Vindictus}}'' has the town of Colhen and the city of Rocheste, from where you travel to instances that make up the majority of the game's action.
* ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'' has one in the town of Battleon, where everyone first spawns upon beginning a game session and where the latest content can be accessed.
* The Republic and Imperial Fleets in ''Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' are the Hubs for players instead of the capital planets Coruscant and Dromund Kaas, surprisingly. The fleets contain shops for everything you need in the game, skill trainers for class/crew and also the entrances to dungeon raids (Flashpoints and Operations) via shuttles.
* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'': Later games in the series feature hubs. For example:
** ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline'': Pioneer 2
** ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarUniverse'' has four hub levels: The GUARDIAN's Colony, Holtes City on the planet Parum, Ohtoku City on Neudaiz, and Dagora City on Moatoob.
** ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarZero'': Dairon City
** ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' has the ARKS Ship, which is divided into a Gate Area where players select quests to undertake, a Shop Area with a variety of stores, and a Casino Area [[MinigameZone with minigames]]. The former two areas have monitors which advertise additions added to the game in patches, media that the game does cross-promotion with, and occasionally shows fan-made videos uploaded to Website/NicoNicoDouga.

* In ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld II'', Britannia acts as something of a hub for the various worlds you must visit.
* Depends on the chapter in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher''. The Prologue has no clear Hub, the first and fourth chapters are too wide open a sandbox to identify a Hub. The second chapter has an [[ViceCity entire city district]] as a Hub, in the third chapter when the [[HubCity range of exploration expands]], the Hub contracts to a single tower. The [[AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield war-torn battlefield]] in the fifth chapter appears to be a Hub at first, but it's really the [[BubblegloopSwamp swamplands.]] The Epilogue is a [[NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom linear rail]] of No Return.

* ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'' has safehouses in each city (Moscow, Rome, Taipei) which serve as hubs between missions.
* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' has the Sunken Flagon inn for the first two-thirds of the game, then Crossroad Keep for the remainder.

* ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' has multiple hub levels. As you complete the levels within them, weird bloody growths come out of the walls and fountains fill with blood, but you're always safe from monsters.
* ''VideoGame/LakeviewCabinCollection'' uses its hub as a FramingDevice: It's a movie theatre that's holding a late night Horrorfest. Before selecting which episode you want to play, you can fool around with the patrons and employees for a while.

* In ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'', the strange world outside your dream home serves as a HubLevel, called the Nexus. It featured a weird Aztec silhouette floating in a black background, with bizarre doors, all of which were unique, floating the in the abyss as your gateways.

* The cities in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' and the rest of the Ezio Trilogy serve this role, though it's not an entirely straight example. Since ''AC'' revolves less around distinct levels and more around "memories", some of the latter can take place entirely within the hub with minimal differences, some impose major changes onto the hub (e.g. all guards on permanent alarm), while yet others transfer you to entirely separate levels.

* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'': Thorntail Hollow serves as the hub of the game world (Sauria), with paths going to many places on the planet's surface, a Warpstone to send you to two other places, and the Arwing to take you to the satellital regions (which were originally part of the planet itself before the BigBad unstabilized them).

* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'': The region that encompassed the Windy chapter. All chapters' areas except that of Uga Buga can be accessed from here (Uga Buga requires entering through Sloprano instead).

->''"This is the Computer Intelligence Training and Enrichment Center Human Test Subject Research Center or [=SinTech=]. But why don't we all just agree to call it the hub?"''DIb

->''"This is the Computer Intelligence Training and Enrichment Center Human Test Subject Research Center or [=SinTech=]. But why don't we all just agree to call it the hub?"''

* The original ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' had the town of Tristram, where you were given quests and sold loot. Also, every four or five dungeon levels, a portal directly to that level would open, making backtracking easier. The sequel gave us a hub in each of the four (five with the expansion) Acts: Rogue's Camp, Lut Gholein, Kurast Docks, Pandemonium Fortress, and Harrogath. They served the same purpose as Tristram, though the portal mechanic has been enhanced with Waypoints, which allowed you to go anywhere you already visited.

The Hub Level may be presented in-story as a PortalCrossroadWorld. If the worlds or levels are accessed through portals within the Hub Level that foreshadow their theme or setting, you get PortalEndpointResemblance.

* The more recent entries in the ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' series feature hubs. For example:

The Hub Level may be presented in-story as a PortalCrossroadWorld.

This is most frequently used in {{Platformer}}s. {{RPG}}s usually stick to the classic OverworldNotToScale device, or use the GlobalAirship to fill the same function. {{Adventure Game}}s usually connect distinct, separate stages through a full size [[TheOverworld Over World.]] Some games may mix this trope with HubCity.

If you have to spend a lot of time [[TalkToEveryone Talking To Everyone]] in the Hub Level just to unlock the next stage, then you're looking at FakeLongevity.

* A trope in horror games is to have the hub level become less safe every time you return to it. Since the hub level is usually a safe area, it can be a good way of invading the player's sense of security.
** The Roivas Mansion in ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness: Sanity's Requiem'' was one of the first to do this. The game's chapters, true to their literal context, are within a book (the Tome of Eternal Darkness).
** It may have been perfected in ''VideoGame/SilentHill4: The Room'', in which the titular room is the Hub [[spoiler:until the Hub ''itself'' begins attacking you.]]
** ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' has multiple hub levels. As you complete the levels within them, weird bloody growths come out of the walls and fountains fill with blood, but you're always safe from monsters.

** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' has [[InNameOnly Firelink Shrine]] again. Unlike in the other two games, the hub is disconnected from the rest of the world. To get anywhere, you'll need to warp through the bonfire.

* Thorntail Hollow in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' serves as the hub of the game world, with paths going to many places on the planet's surface, a Warpstone to send you to two of the other places, and the Arwing to take you to the chunks that are floating around out there (the planet was split into pieces before the game begins).

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' has Hyrule Field. One big, wide, empty field with a few secrets to find while you're running between the other areas.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' has Termina Field. All four major regions of the game (Woodfall, Snowhead, Great Bay and Ikana Canyon) are accessed through the field, which in turn has Clock Town in its very center. Romani Ranch can be accessed from Termina Field as well. And these destinations aren't linked to each other at all, except for a river passageway from Ikana Canyon to Woodfall.
** The Sky in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' operates in a similar way to Termina Field. From there, Link can enter not only the three surface provinces of Hyrule (Faron Woods, Eldin Volcano and Lanayru Desert, and by extension all places that relate to them), but also several floating islands as in ''The Wind Waker''. One of those islands, Skyloft, serves as the main core location of the Sky.
** Hytopia Castle Town in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTriForceHeroes'' has Madame Coture's Shop, the [=StreetPass=] Shop, and King Tuft's Castle where levels are actually accessed. It is also the FirstTown because it is where you first wind up.

* The HubLevel really came into its own with Princess Peach's Castle and the surrounding grounds in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', which is often cited as the TropeCodifier. The castle even has 15 stars of its own, some of which involve navigating through bonus levels.
* Delfino Plaza in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine''. It gives access to all the other levels, most of them via magical M-shaped paintings or red pipes. A grand total of 40 (out of 120) Shine Sprites can be collected here (though 24 of them can only be purchased with the blue coins scattered on all levels in the game).
* The Comet Observatory in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' is rather small with relatively little to explore, compared to the previous two examples. 12 stars can be gotten through the miscellaneous galaxies (including both [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Bowser's Galaxy Reactor]] and the secret Grand Finale Galaxy) accessible from here. It also has five [[OneUp 1-Up Mushrooms]], a BottomlessPitRescueService, the room where Rosalina tells her backstory (divided by unlockable chapters), and can be flown around with the Red Star later in the game.
* {{Downplayed|Trope}} with the {{Faceship}} Starship Mario in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', since the game returns to the world map format used in most 2-D games since ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3''. It's a sandbox where you can practice all your moves and get basic advice on how to play the game--more like the Castle Garden from ''64'' than the castle itself. However, it has a few 1-Ups out in the open like the Comet Observatory, plus a Cloud Flower, Yoshi, an engine room where you can see all the power-ups you've collected in glass cases, and a place you can you can spend Star Bits and coins to roll dice for 1-Ups.
* On first glance, the level select area in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' looks just like the simple maps with branching paths from the ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' games. But you are able to freely walk around the area like you can in all the pre-''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' 3D games in the series.

* Like in ''Super Mario 64'', Peach's Castle appears as the hub level in ''VideoGame/MarioPlusRabbidsKingdomBattle''. Unlike in ''Mario 64'', however, the inside of the castle cannot be visited and the entrances to the various worlds are in the castle's surrounding area.
* The ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' series has a few Hubs. ''VideoGame/WarioLand4'' has the Golden Pyramid, and ''VideoGame/WarioLandShakeIt/The Shake Dimension'' has his, erm... Garage.
* ''VideoGame/WarioWorld'' has Treasure Square.

** Showdown Town in ''Nuts & Bolts''. Rare claims it is the largest hub level it has ever created. It's only the size of a small city, apparently.

* DK Isles in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64''. There are eight main worlds, four of which (Jungle Japes, Angry Aztec, Fungi Forest and Crystal Caves) are accessed within Donkey Kong's island and the other four (Frantic Factory, Gloomy Galleon, Creepy Castle and Hideout Helm) are within the large Kremling ship.
* The Windy region in ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay''. All chapters' areas except that of Uga Buga can be accessed from here (Uga Buga requires entering through Sloprano instead).
* ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' have hub areas that are the literal hub of the space station you're exploring. In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' the Luminoth specifically built the great temple at the center of their other three dwelling areas on Aether, hence, the hub area.

** The first game has three hub worlds, each providing access to three different areas. Getting enough Power Cells in a world unlocks a fourth area which connects to the next hub world (or, in the case of the third, to the final level), giving the impression of traversing across one massive world instead of between a few disconnected areas. While the hub worlds themselves have no enemies, each one ''does'' have eight Power Cells of its own, though most are of the "bring X Precursor Orbs to Y person" variety.

** While ''VideoGame/{{Daxter}}'' also features Haven City as a hub world, in this game it's only a small section of the city, and it's a hub world in a much more traditional sense than the ''Jak II'' version.

* The [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog]] games have never been keen on implementing hub stages; perhaps the closest they get are the "adventure fields" in the original ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', which function like a series of interlinked hub stages characters are free to explore between accessing the regular levels.

* Timber's Island in ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'' is possibly a unique example of a free-roaming explorable hub world with hidden bonuses and levels in a ''racing game''.

* Timber's Island in ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing''.