Developed by the same team behind the Dungeon crawler The satirical film “Going Under, Another Crab’s Treasure” feels like an April Fool’s joke come true. Set in a vibrant underwater kingdom, it’s quite different from other soul ARPGs that have flooded the market in recent years, with a more playful tone and full of very funny puns. After highlighting Nintendo’s Indie World presentation, the game is now available for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5 and Xbox Series.
In Another Crab’s Treasure, you play as a cute hermit crab named Krill, whose day takes an unexpected turn after a “loan shark” confiscates his shell. As Krill fights to avoid destroying it by paying his taxes, he is left without his most prized possession and must explore the entire ocean to get it back. Filled with killer crabs, puffer fish and other deadly crustaceans, Krill finds himself in the middle of a sea of problems and must fight for his survival.
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Unlike typical Soulslikes (I mean pre-Elden Ring), Another Crab’s Treasure is much more open in terms of level design and therefore offers more freedom for exploration. On your journey you will travel through kelp forests, coral reefs and sandcastle towns. These open spaces help prevent frustration when you get stuck, as you can always go off the trail and do the necessary farming. The game also places a greater emphasis on platforming, and levels are characterized by a greater sense of verticality: krill can move through water for a limited time, bounce off sponges, and cling to distant locations with fishing lines.
In combat, however, things feel familiar as you have to watch your opponents, dodge their attacks, and punish them at just the right time. Defeating enemies also earns you microplastics (the game’s equivalent of the Souls video game set), which you can use to improve attributes such as your health, stamina, and damage. You can also equip up to three different items to boost your stats and switch between them at any time.
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To protect yourself from the many angry sea creatures you encounter along the way, krill can use discarded objects on the ocean floor as shells. From abandoned tennis balls to shuttlecocks to shot glasses, each of these grenades has individual defense stats and special abilities that we need to take into account. For example, the soda can shoots bubbles that allow you to attack from a distance, while the teacup increases attack speed so you can land additional hits.
You can also hide in your shell to absorb damage, but if you’re not careful you’ll be left searching for a new one. Your grenades can break if you take too much damage, but you can easily crawl into another one if you find one on the ground nearby. Switching between grenades mid-action helps keep the combat feeling fresh, and there’s an incredible sense of danger as you’re left naked in search of a new home.
Another area in which Another Crab’s Treasure succeeds is in providing an accessible entry into an often very complicated genre. If you fail to defeat a boss, you have the option of being teleported directly out of the arena without having to go back, which can be a pain. There are also a number of good accessibility features that can do things like slow down the game and increase the amount of time you can parry. You can even hilariously spawn a weapon to take out enemies in one hit if you’re still having a hard time with that.
Another Crab’s Treasure emerges from its shell as a refreshing and playful addition to the usually intense and cryptic realm of Souls-like games. Its accessibility options make it a great entry point for newcomers, and veterans of the genre will appreciate some differences such as the open-world design, greater focus on platforming, and the numerous equippable shells. You definitely need to check it out if you’re looking for a unique twist on this extremely saturated genre.
