Everything we know about the crab souls-like Another Crab’s Treasure

Nintendo’s Indie World presentations always provide a few surprises for Switch players, and the latest revealed a self-described “Shells-like” that features an adorable hermit crab hero. Another Crab’s Treasure is a new title revealed during the May 2022 Indie World Presentation by Nintendo. It was easily one of the standouts of the presentation, and it’s easy to immediately fall in love with its colorful art style, gorgeous world, and shelled protagonist. Here’s everything we know about Another Crab’s Treasure.

When is Another Crab’s Treasure’s release window?

Another Crab’s Treasure is currently in development for Nintendo Switch and PC, with a release window of 2023. The Indie World Presentation was the very first announcement of the game, so we likely won’t see the full release until Spring 2023 at the earliest. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the game appear in another Nintendo presentation later in the year.

Is there a trailer for Another Crab’s Treasure?

There’s currently one trailer for Another Crab’s Treasure, revealed at the very end of Nintendo’s Indie World presentation.

Although the trailer is only just over a minute, it does give a pretty good look at the underwater locales of the game, from a magnificent sandcastle to a multicolored reef filled with trash. The trailer also makes it quite clear that there’s a tongue-in-cheek tone to the game, despite it technically being Souls-like.

Who’s developing Another Crab’s Treasure?

Another Crab’s Treasure is developed by the fittingly-named Aggro Crab Games. In 2020 the studio released Going Under, a procedurally generated roguelike that follows an unpaid intern named Jackie, as she travels below her workplace to explore ruins filled with failed startups. Going Under sported a similar colorful art style, and it was fairly well-received by critics, currently at a 78 on Metacritic for the PC version and an 81 for the Nintendo Switch version.

“I've had this game idea about a hermit crab that wears trash as a shell for like 6 years and nobody would let me do it,” says Art Director Nick Kaman in a press release for the game.

Another Crab’s Treasure follows a hermit crab named Kril, as they work to save an underwater society plagued by pollution.

What we know about Another Crab’s Treasure’s gameplay

Another Crab’s Treasure looks like an interesting mix of Souls-like combat and 3D platforming, with a few unique elements on top of all that. Like with most Souls games the focus is on intense combat that has you going up against a variety of enemies, and it looks like Kril will use forks and other utensils to battle a variety of other crustaceans, including a crawfish that uses a jousting pole. Aggro Crab Games says it wanted to create an experience that’s both challenging and accessible at the same time.

The more unique mechanic, however, comes with armor. Kril can pick up a variety of different trash and items that they can use as a shell for protection. The trailer shows Kril wearing cans, coffee cups, milk bottles, and even some kind of glowing item. This suggests that the shells could help you not only in combat but also in traversal and exploration. Here’s an overview of the “key” feature from the official press release.

• Challenging yet approachable soulslike combat
• A grand undersea world to explore
• Over 50 shells to try on and fend off attackers
• Smite your enemies with powerful Umami Magic
• Way Too Many Crabs