Another Crab’s Treasure is a souls-like that’s hard as a crustacean’s shell! Play as Kril as he attempts to retrieve his home! Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Another Crab's Treasure Review Overview
What is Another Crab's Treasure?
Another Crab's Treasure is an underwater souls-like starring a hermit crab! Developed and published by the aptly named studio Aggro Crab, you’ll control Kril as he goes on an adventure to retrieve his home shell after it was confiscated for tax purposes by the undersea Duchess. Pick up and wield trash as your weapon and armor as you fend off hostile foes in this thrilling ‘shells-like!’
Another Crab's Treasure features:
⚫︎ Souls-like inspired controls and gameplay
⚫︎ A wide variety of trash to wear and use as your shell for protection!
⚫︎ Unique ‘Umami’ abilities for each type of shell!
⚫︎ Dozens of ‘Stowaway’ accessories to boost your stats
⚫︎ Difficult and challenging foes and bosses scattered across the open ocean world
⚫︎ Sprawling caverns and dungeons with platforming puzzles
⚫︎ A GRAPPLING HOOK!
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Another Crab's Treasure's gameplay and story.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Steam |
 Playstation |
 Xbox |
 Switch |
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| TBA; for wishlist only | $29.99 | ||||||
Another Crab's Treasure Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Ex-Shell-ent Souls-like Game Design Quirky Writing and Worldbuilding |
Widely Unpolished Lackluster Soundtrack |
Another Crab's Treasure Overall - 76/100
Another Crab’s Treasure is an ex-shell-ent take on the souls-like genre, starring a lovable hermit crab that just wants his home back and to evade taxes. The gameplay takes huge inspiration from FromSoft games, of which they’re able to adapt and implement into an underwater adventure. Though there are some minor unpolished aspects that could take players out of the immersion, overall the game is still sound and enjoyable. Filled with challenging hordes of enemies and bosses, you’ll shore-ly have to overcome multiple challenges that will give you your fair share of ‘Watery Graves.’
Another Crab's Treasure Story - 8/10
Another Crab’s Treasure’s narrative is a product of the modern times where most of the population is heavily critical of the weight of taxes and debt. The game depicts that through the confiscation of Kril’s home/shell, and now he must jump through all kinds of hoops to retrieve it. The premise itself is funny, but the execution throughout the game is overall well-written, not to serve as a serious debate, but lighthearted jokes and jabs pertaining to the struggles of the average person. The writing is witty, enjoyable, and is overall very relatable that will have you chuckling and grinning whenever you can.
Another Crab's Treasure Gameplay - 9/10
Another Crab’s Treasure manages to make a great souls-like starring an endearing and socially awkward crab, which is a feat in itself. From the souls/microplastics mechanic, the high-skill ceiling combat of precisely timed attacks, blocks, parries, and dodge rolls, the gameplay is very intuitive for souls-like veterans, but also friendly for those new to the genre.
Another Crab's Treasure Visuals - 7/10
To go along with the game’s quirky writing would be the simple but effective art direction Another Crab’s Treasure employs. Characters and well-designed with very expressive facial animations that add to the experience. Enemies have a wide range of simplicity and complexity easily distinguishable from the common enemies to harder foes that radiate menacing auras. The environments, on the other hand, are a bit of a hit-and-miss, where some are well-decorated with plastic and trash, or adorned with beautiful ornaments, the majority outside of those highlights are duller and more boring in comparison.
Another Crab's Treasure Audio - 6/10
The implementation of above-average voice acting is very appreciated, as the cutscenes and some dialogue having them enhances the experience tenfold. However, the overall musical soundtrack falls flat as it fails to achieve that sense of grandiosity from the games it takes inspiration from. What it has are bland and low-energy tracks that don’t leave not much room for inspiration or enjoyment as you play through the game. Though it tries to pick up the tempo with the boss fight tracks, it’s just flat out unremarkable and is worsened by its repeated use across multiple bosses.
Another Crab's Treasure Value for Money - 8/10
Priced at $29.99 (only for the Nintendo Switch as of writing), Another Crab’s Treasure is still a worthy journey to be had, as it’s a very fresh take on the souls-like genre that both seasoned players and newcomers will have plenty to enjoy from. Though there are a few wrinkles that could always be ironed out, the amount of content packed into the game alongside its very inspired gameplay is very much worth the price.
Another Crab's Treasure Review: Dark Shoals is Hard as Shell
If you plan to play Another Crabs Treasure(ACT), then get ready to see the words above countless times. Similar to the Souls series, ACT is merciless and unapologetic in its difficulty. Though it’s not overtly hard, it could still pose as quite a challenge for veterans of the genre. ACT is somewhat of a stray evolution, or rather, the carcinization of a souls-like, being rather simple and straightforward but still having much depth underneath its watery mechanics. A great example would be how the underwater setting is actually utilized in maneuverability in both platforming and combat. Jumping is a viable option to dodge enemy attacks that sweep low, and also allow for other branching aerial attacks or dodges.
The simplification of the stats to four basic aspects makes it a great entry point for beginners as well, pulling many into the genre who might’ve always been turned off by the gloomy and menacing atmosphere of FromSoft games.
That’s not to say it pulls its punches, as it takes heavy inspiration of punishing the newer players if they stray too far in the open world. Take the boss fight in the video above that you can innocently wander into at the start of the game. How you can easily just get roped into a boss fight so difficult and early in the game just screams the Tree Sentinel from Elden Ring, and it’s definitely one of the more fun aspects of ACT when it knows which souls-like features to implement to their full effect.
However, one surprising addition that’s absent from FromSoft games is the existence of difficulty sliders or even any tools to ‘assist’ any players who might be having a hard time playing the game. ACT has an Assist Settings screen where you can tweak and adjust certain features and values to make the game easier, or harder, for players. This is precisely what has been alienating a portion of fans who’ve always wished to get into the Souls series but never been able to due to the overwhelming difficulty. This ability to do so wouldn’t necessarily harm the more hardcore players, but also cater to the ‘casuals’ who aren’t well-versed with the combat mechanics.
They ex-shell-lently(I’m never gonna stop using this, I’m not sorry) nail the souls-like genre and manage to put their own spin into it with a more ‘lighthearted’ undersea approach, starring a hermit crab who can quickly change their armor using ocean litter. The developers over at Aggro Crab should be proud of what they’ve achieved with Another Crab’s Treasure with how they blend the difficulty of souls-likes, their own unique spins, and the accessibility to pull in newer players.
Pros of Another Crab's Treasure
| Things Another Crab's Treasure Got Right |
|---|
|
Ex-Shell-ent Souls-like Game Design Quirky Writing and Worldbuilding |
Ex-Shell-ent Souls-like Game Design
They manage to masterfully instill the primary aspects of a Souls game into their own, basically invoking a carcinization of the genre into Another Crab’s Treasure. Attacking, dodging, blocking, and of course, parrying, all feel responsive and intuitive (save for some collision issues we’ll talk about later), which all make for engrossing gameplay. From the easy-to-pick-up combat to the high skill ceiling needed from precise movement and action, the formula is all there and makes for a fun game with all of its unique little quirks.
One such quirk is the ability to quickly change shells through trash, drastically changing your stats from how heavy and durable your chosen garbage armor is. What’s more is all the unique Umami abilities attached to each unique trash shell, allowing you to mix and match shells depending on their stats and playstyle that you seek. Finding said shells is also pretty easy, where you can merely walk a few steps and find litter in the ocean ready for the taking to be your temporary home.
It also manages to tie in blocking and parrying using the shell, where you can leave your shell at the precise time to parry and stagger enemies, or continuously hide within to avoid depleting any health.
Quirky Writing and Worldbuilding
The world of Another Crab’s Treasure is amusing, where everyone seems to be under the constant pressure of the rich monarchy extorting the common folk. All the characters and dialogue are witty and entertaining, and the voice-acting definitely adds to the light-hearted experience. From the contrasting languages of the castle guards, to the overzealous captain of the guards, and even to the first enemy you encounter, all have dialogues and characterizations that are a joy to experience.
However, no spoilers, but they also retain their excellent writing even when the tone finally drastically shifts…
Cons of Another Crab's Treasure
| Things Another Crab's Treasure Can Improve |
|---|
|
Widely Unpolished Lackluster Soundtrack |
Widely Unpolished
As great of a game Another Crab’s Treasure is, some of its jank must be pointed out. Though one could reason that the ‘jank’ is also derived from the early souls series’ notoriety with the ‘difficult’ controls, the weird enemy collisions, and the messy camera, modern FromSoft games, such as the illustrious Elden Ring, have managed to do away with most of these problems. One such problem is how enemies tend to clip into the environment, getting stuck but still performing their AI attacks.
Another example would be how locking into enemies is often a mess. When I’d want to lock onto one nearer me, but since my camera is more centered on a more distant enemy, I’d end up locking onto them. You’d always need to micro-adjust your camera accordingly to be near-perfect dead-on to the enemy you wish to lock on. The lack of a lock-on based on proximity is baffling.
In the same vein of the camera, there are multiple instances where the props, buildings, and environments manage to obstruct the view, either during exploration or more importantly in combat. It becomes genuinely frustrating at times when in closed-knit areas, where locking onto enemies would be to your detriment rather than benefit.
Lastly, there’s a collision issue that I personally have a gripe with, where usually when rolling against enemies in an angled-tangent would get my character caught on them, rendering me stuck, motionless, and exposed. This is most evident against big bosses, where running or dodge rolling in a certain direction can get you easily stuck touching the enemy if just one bit of their model sticks out, getting you caught and easily killed. Some smoother and spherical collisions would be good, where rolling would at least allow us to slide some ways and still have motion to move out of the way.
Though, if you’re one who sees the charm from the old-school jankiness, then it all might appear as a net positive for you, and we’re not here to judge or discriminate.
Lackluster Soundtrack
A big factor that Another Crab’s Treasure doesn’t manage to adapt from the Souls series is the spectacular and memorable soundtrack that will have you at the edge of your seat. Though it tries its best with relaxing and jiving tracks often accompanied with long bouts of silence to hopefully mimic the ambiance of the game it takes inspiration from, it fails in the most crucial aspect of elevating the special moments of the boss battles that make the repeated silence and elevator music worth it.
Though it has different tracks for the boss battles with a more upbeat tempo, it nonetheless sounds generic club music that is genuinely unremarkable and easily forgettable.
Is Another Crab's Treasure Worth It?
Shell Yes! Come on and Undergo Carcinization!
Another Crab’s Treasure is definitely worth becoming a crab for! Priced at only $29.99 (currently only known for the Nintendo Switch), it packs a lot of challenging content that those experienced in the souls-like genre will appreciate. Even those new to the style will have a great entry point, as the game is able to simplify it enough but still make it fun and accessible even with its high difficulty. Though there are still some kinks to fix here and there along with a very uninspired soundtrack, the game overall is still a superb spend of time that any player will no doubt have fun playing.
Another Crab's Treasure FAQ
How Many Shells Are There?
From the Shell collection screen accessible when entering Moon Snail Shells, there are a total of 69 shells to discover, collect, and wield! Each shell will have its own unique Umami ability that will be helpful in battle, so choose wisely!
How to Get Umami Crystals?
Umami Crystals are used to learn new skills and techniques for either traversal, survivability, or offensive maneuvers. They can be earned through defeating bosses and mini-bosses, as well as destroying chunks secretly hidden and scattered across the open world. They can be spent by going to the Moon Snail’s domain, and be reset using Shark Eggs.
Another Crab's Treasure‘s System Requirements
| System Specs | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 10 or newer |
| Processor | 2.5GHz or faster |
| Memory | 4GB RAM |
| Graphics | Nvidia GTX 970 or equivalent |
| Direct X Version | Version 10 |
| Storage | 6GB Available space |
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Another Crab's Treasure Product Information
 | |
| Title | ANOTHER CRAB’S TREASURE |
|---|---|
| Release Date | April 25, 2024 |
| Developer | Aggro Crab |
| Publisher | Aggro Crab |
| Supported Platforms | PC(Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch |
| Genre | Souls-like, 3D Platformer |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| Rating | ESRB T |
| Official Website | Another Crab's Treasure Official Website |
GIVE ME THE KRABBY PATTY FORMULA KRABS!
GIVE ME THE KRABBY PATTY FORMULA KRABS!