Another Crab’s Treasure hooked me with its underwater Soulslike premise and cutesy charm. But once you take a closer look at the game’s polluted ocean, filled with plastic shells and weapons, the comparisons to Dark Souls get a little clearer. This is a quiet and kinda melancholy post-apocalypse. We can now find out whether the crustaceans lean on cuteness or sadness more in the game’s new demo, released just yesterday.
Developer Aggro Crab explains that the demo runs from the opening level – The Moon Caves – to the introduction of the second level – The Expired Grove. The short taster also features difficulty-adjusting assist options, a selection of skills and spells, and three boss fights with terrifyingly outsized shellfish, including a samurai lobster.
I’m excited to dive into Another Crab’s Treasure because, well, stuffing my crab into coffee mugs and succulent pots and other such trash sounds cool. The idea of these creatures commodifying and/or idealising human garbage sounds interesting, too. But most of all, the movement shown thus far looks so playful.
Trailers have our main crab bouncing around, swimming vertically through levels, and grappling onto nearby surfaces. As much as I love (and sometimes loathe) FromSoftware’s games, moving in those worlds is often marked by anxiety – and sometimes the satisfaction that comes from rolling into breakable barrels. I’m just looking forward to a chiller take on the Soulslike – or shellslike – after whetting my appetite on Lies Of P.
Developer Aggro Crab are also responsible for Going Under, the dungeon-crawling bash ‘em up about an unpaid intern who wields office junk to clean up failed startups. They seem to be on a joyously irreverent streak.
The demo for Another Crab’s Treasure is available to download on Steam until “at least” October 16th. The full game is then due sometime in 2024, where it’ll launch into Game Pass as well. In the meantime, Steam Next Fest officially begins on October 9th, so keep your eyes glued for more interesting demos over the coming days.
