Souls-likes are all the rage these days, with Lies of P dominating our top 10 lists last year, and 2024 shows no sign of slowing down. There’s the Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, Black Myth: Wukong and Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, to name but a few.

First on the docket, however, is a smaller, more charming take on the genre. Another Crab’s Treasure is an indie Souls-like game developed by Aggro Crab in which you play as, well, a crab. It’s a title that mixes challenging Souls gameplay with a slightly more lighthearted tone.

More Sekiro Than Dark Souls

In a recent interview with Game Rant, developer Aggro Crab shared that their title contains a trio of mechanics that makes it far closer to Sekiro than it does to Dark Souls.

Sekiro: Shadow’s Die Twice is known for requiring the player to play more defensively, using parries and blocks to help overcome their adversaries. Naturally, being a hermit crab, the protagonist, Kril, has a shell on his back, a perfect defensive tool that lends itself to this style of gameplay.

The developers said, “What does the hermit crab want to do? He wants to hide in his shell. A lot of our gameplay is focused around that ability to block with your shell, parry, counter-attack, that sort of thing.”

Another major similarity between both Another Crab’s Treasure and Sekiro is the omission of a stamina mechanic. “Our game doesn’t have stamina, as well,” Aggro Crab said when discussing the mechanic. Instead, players will want to “get in there, take some hits with your shell, dodge when you can, but keep whaling on your opponent.”

Finally, Another Crab’s Treasure will feature a system similar to Sekiro’s perilous attacks; this time called the “aggro symbol”. This symbol will appear when an enemy is performing an unblockable attack, forcing players to think on their feet.

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There are several Soulslike games that recapture the same magic while also introducing some innovative gameplay elements.

You Can Pet The Dog, At Your Own Risk

Sekiro isn’t the only game that Another Crab’s Treasure shares similarities with. The underwater game will contain a feature that allows players to pet the dog, something that’s been popularised by the Can You Pet The Dog Twitter account.

In their interview with Game Rant, Aggro Crab implied there will be an element of risk with petting their version of the four-legged friend, with one of the developers dying during the action, stating they “died because I pet the dog mid-combat” because they “tried to pick up a shell.”

It appears the “pet” and “shell pick up” actions share the same button, meaning it’s not all plain sailing, however, the developers did hint that “Maybe that will be fixed by launch.”