Another Crab’s Treasure Review — A shellfish by any other name

Dark Souls is a prolific franchise; It’s hard to underestimate how influential a game or series of games is when an entire genre is named after it. For many people reading this article, I can simply say the word “Soulslike” and paint a vivid picture in your mind of what to expect from a game. In a word, I’ve communicated the nuances of the game’s level design, mechanics, and overall gameplay loop. That’s impressive if you really think about it, and it goes to show just how timeless the Soulslike design can be—this helps with Another Crab’s Treasure.

Another Crab’s Treasure is a delightful and, dare I say, refreshing twist on the genre. It still has all of the trademarks of a Souls game: the familiar combat, the kill enemies, get souls, buy levels loop, the challenging encounters, and the big exciting boss battles, et cetera. Unlike many games inspired by the Souls series, however, Another Crab’s Treasure ditches the dreary, dark, fantastical settings for something bright, nautical, and often hilarious.

Another Crab’s Treasure follows the tale of Krill, a hermit crab who’s stepped away from the hustle and bustle of busy crab society to focus on their mental health. However, their status quo is quite literally torn away as an intrusive sharl grabber toy informs Krill that the land they occupy has come under the jurisdiction. Krill’s shell is being repossessed for not paying 10 “tides” worth of back taxes. Forcefully.

They have no shell to protect Krill from the ravenous seagull population and no incredibly valuable Microplastics to buy it back. So they’re forced back under the sea to try and convince the Duchess to return their home. This leads to fighting through hordes of possessed crabs and hungry fish in the process.

Another Crab’s Treasure is a Soulslike with an utterly unique theme, and if that were all I had to say about it, I would still recommend it. The Soulslike gameplay is spot on, and to get that right and then include it with a presentation you just don’t see in the genre is enough to make it stand out.

Another Crab’s Treasure continues to impress, however, with its writing. Throughout Krill’s journey to get their home back, you’ll encounter a slew of nautical characters filled to the shell with personality. Krill themselves are no exception to this, being this great mix of adorably shy and just a little sarcastic, which carries the character a long way and easily makes you fall in love with them.

The writing strikes a perfect balance between being acceptable for all audiences to enjoy while still being smart and taking the reader seriously. It’s packed with hilarious, sometimes slightly dark comedy but without any necessarily crude or inappropriate moments that come to mind. It goes a long way to show that adults can enjoy humor without being “adult humor,” but it’s a refreshing reminder that I feel like I need to have it every now and then.

That sort of “friendly for kids, welcoming to all ages” vibe persists throughout Another Crab’s Treasure. In addition to the writing, I would say that the gameplay is borderline “baby’s first soulslike;” It is certainly challenging, and players of all skill levels can get something out of it, but it lacks the unforgiving cruelty of other Soulslike titles. If this was the game you wanted to introduce someone to the genre with, it would give them a taste of the super fun formula without making them rip their hair out.

A big part of that is due to the game’s writing and overall vibe. It is hard to be frustrated when you’re stuck on a boss who’s presented as silly and keeps dropping funny lines throughout the fight. However, the gameplay is also toned down a bit; Telegraphed attacks, at least to me, seem to be a tad slower and more announced than they are in other games in the genre. Another Crab’s Treasure also makes use of a pretty generous block system that can make fights a lot easier to survive.

I’m actually a big fan of how the game handles blocking. Another Crab’s Treasure offers you various shells instead of shields or a stamina regen penalty when blocking. These shells have their own stats, reduce the damage you take when hit, and have their health bars. When you block an attack, only your shell takes damage; once it breaks, you must find a new one.

It’s a forgiving mechanic that gives fights a bit more breathing room and is thematically great for a game about a hermit crab.

Each shell is visually and statistically different and comes with a unique ability, like weapon skills in Dark Souls. This incentivizes you to use different shells besides simply picking the shell with the highest health bar and defense value. Sometimes, that bottle cap is better than that steel can.

In addition to the Soulslike mechanics, Another Crab’s Treasure includes some compelling platforming gameplay. It makes full use of its setting to make these segments fun. Using a stamina bar, you can swim for a short while through the water to get extra distance on your jumps. Nets and trash litter the sea floor, which you can climb about on. There is even grappling, using discarded fishing hooks and twine to navigate about a level in style.

Everything about Another Crab’s Treasure just works. It feels like it was made with a general love for the genre but a desire to do something new. It almost parodies aspects of the super-serious soul-like titles that have come before, and with great humor and solid gameplay, it stands out as a solid addition to its genre.

Try Hard Guides received a PC review code for this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website! Another Crab’s Treasure is available on Steam, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation.