I first played Another Crab’s Treasure on the side of the street behind the Day of the Devs event in LA earlier this year, the sun glaring on a laptop screen, quickly running out of power. Next to me sat Nick, the studio head, who watched patiently as a hungover blob attempted to navigate his team’s game. He muttered “interesting” as I struggled to navigate the tutorial at first, I assume in awe at how long it took me to jump into the ocean and start the game proper. It remains the most embarrassing moment I had this year.
And yet, of all the games that came out this year, all the indie darlings, daring double A’s, big-budget triple A’s, and the occasional hilarious quadruple A, it was this quirky little crab adventure that stood out to me. A prime example of how to do game development right, and a game I could (and have) recommended to everyone I can get my claws on. Another Crab’s Treasure is special, and a real gem of 2024.
Created by Aggro Crab, the studio is seemingly cursed to have its offices broken into forevermore and formed of a varied team of largely new faces to video game development. Young and with fresh ideas, they dropped Another Crab’s Treasure in April to healthy success. As of writing, the game has sold at least 500K copies as of November 1 (not shabby for an indie by any means) and has won numerous awards. It’s also, by the way, a brilliantly fun game that brings a splash of fun and vibrancy to a subgenre that oftentimes can get lost in the doom and gloom, all without foregoing an important message.
What’s brilliant about Another Crab’s Treasure is the team’s very modern approach to game and community management. The dev team knew they had a rad game on their hands but they didn’t just throw it out there. They did some wonderful community management work that capitalised on even the tinniest opportunity to make memes and build rapport, showing an understanding of how the current social media landscape works. They collaborated with influencers and made the most of them, pushing them just enough to make waves but not too much to drown out the game itself. The team’s young talent expressed themselves wonderfully through their work, offering innovative twists on genre standards and a youthful vigour to the game’s vibe. It also has a sick original soundtrack – great job Felix.
However, even Aggro Crab, who from where I’m sitting seems to be doing everything right, is not safe from the harsh winds of 2024 and the current industry environment. At the start of November, the team announced that funding for its third game had fallen through. This means that even while members of the team were picking up Golden Joystick Awards and being celebrated by their peers, the financial gears of the same industry remained stationary.
To say this is a bummer is an immense understatement. If the industry is not a place where teams like Aggro Crab can thrive, and games like Another Crab’s Treasure are enough to ensure a level of security then that’s a testament to how bad things real are. Still, it’s not as though their efforts have gone unnoticed! Here’s hoping that come January, when corporate budgets are established and men in suits start shopping around for studios to throw money at, they shell out some dough for what will surely be a shellfish steal.
For you, the player, the game is not done yet! It’s getting a new game plus mode soon as well as a boss rush mode and other goodies. So grab it! It’s a fantastic game well worth your time, made by people who will surely appreciate it.