Crab Game, which marks itself as Steam’s alternative to a certain other aquatic species game, is a game of both zany fun and some surprisingly strategic moments. With the game’s recentresurgence on the Steam charts, both casual onlookers and active players are wondering if the game can be considered truly competitive despite its completely unserious setting.
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The good news for both strategic players and just-for-funCrab Gameparticipants is that the game contains chances to excel through a variety of means.While many of the mapsand games require immense luck to win, there are also chances for players to show their skills via deception, reflex movements, and teamwork.
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InThe Floor is Lava, players must stand on small, rocky platforms that slowly crumble as the game progresses. Falling below the platforms leads to lead to water or lava, depending on the map, and death.
While luck is an important factor in this game (which stones crumble is random each game) using spatial awareness and planning ahead helps tremendously. There is also the chance for some player interaction, via shoving, but this technique is hard to pull off. Most players will do better by simply focusing on the platforms and jumping as necessary.
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Hat Kingis essentially a competitive tag game, requiring players to hold a crown for as long as possible. When they have a crown, players need to either maneuver around obstacles to avoid crownless opponents or find a hiding spot.
This game mode plays a bit like theFall Guystail tag events, but with a bit more fairness. As inFall Guys, players spawning without the special object (here, a crown) are at a disadvantage, but losing the crown at the last moment won’t hurt as much since total time with the crown is the deciding factor for this game.
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Crab Game’srendition ofHide and Seekprovides a dark twist on a familiar classic. Instead of merely tapping or poking the hiders, this game’s seekers wield knives to stab and slash their way to victory. Seekers must make a kill before the round’s time runs out to become hiders themselves. Killed hiders become seekers themselves.
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Like otherasymmetric multiplayer games, there is a bit of unfairness in the luck of the draw for initial roles. If all players are of roughly equal skill, hiders will have a distinct advantage since they start some distance away from their opponents already.
Much like theSquid Gamebridge crossing game,Stepping Stonespresents players with a series of jumps to be made in a limited amount of time. Each jump has a pair of platforms to choose from, with one leading to the next pair and the other leading to instant death.Stepping Stonesdiverges slightly from theSquid Gameversion of the game by allowing players to cross in any order.
For strategizing players, both the hit show’s version andMr. Beast’s Squid Gameshould be viewed and studied. Still, basic stats and negotiation with other players can help any participant snatch a win.
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Block Dropis for competitors that like to plan ahead while also quickly moving in the present. After players first enter a checkerboardBlock Droparena, it will begin to fill with short, square rocks. Players that get smashed in the head by one face a game over.
The strategy comes from not getting trapped between quickly forming walls. Instead, players should strive to climb up blocks that form a “staircase” pattern. This is the type of game that, once properly analyzed, becomes more luck than skill, but will hold up to intense scrutiny for dozens of plays.
Played on maps that are divided up into capturable segments,Tile Driveis agame of area control. Players bring their team glory by touching surfaces about the arena. Each eligible surface changes into the color of the team whose player last touched it, giving the initially gray environment a colorful appearance by the end of the match.
WhileTile Driveallows players to show off some basic platforming skills, spatial reasoning and basic teamwork are the most rewarded. Devious teams can have each member of their own team follow a different member of a chosen other team, making the targeted team’s movements essentially useless.
Like most variants ofKing of the Hill, players strive to get to the top of a structure. Once there, players won’t be allowed to wait around as they must participate in baseball bat combat to stay atop the hill as long as possible.
Severalfamiliar king-of-the-hill strategiesemerge once players reach the top platform. Those willing to team up can cover the various entrances to the top, keeping others away. Since the game eliminates those that spent the shortest amount of time on the top platform, this is a great way to effectively shut out slower players. More honorable players can choose to spend their time on the hill duking it out with others who have ascended, but always risk getting a baseball bat to the back from freshly arriving opponents.
Racemaps present an obstacle course for players to run and jump through. These maps tend to be high-skill affairs, with the top players using advanced jump and slide combos to move incredibly fast. Practice is required to get the fastest times, with some sections being possible to skip altogether if played right.
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Beyond simply being agame about moving fast, brief moments of strategy occur when maps provide alternate routes. Choosing to take a risky shortcut when near the back of the pack can be the difference between making it to the next round and getting eliminated.
Much like theTaggame mode,Bomb Tagforces the player to think quickly and switch rapidly between chasing and running away from players. InBomb Tag, a series of short rounds of tag are played, with the “it” player beingeliminated with a destructive bang.
While the constant new bombs put into play increases the luck factor of the game (nobody wants to be the player that starts with the bomb) it also increases strategic depth. UnlikeTag, where being in the furthest corner from other players is a great strategy, inBomb Tagplayers need to keep a strategic distance from others in case they are the next bomb holder. If the bomb spawns on a player too far from the group, there might not be enough time to dump it off on another player.
Lights Outinitially appears like any other game transition period, at least until the weapons come out. InLights Out, players have a chance to go on a time-limited, free-for-all killing spree or to shirk away from the combat and watch the others do the fighting.
The game can have a bit of a random element to it if a player doesn’t spawn near a good weapon. However, knowing when to fight and when to run gives the mode high strategic depth. The possibility of teaming with other players in a peace pact adds even more layers to the strategic dynamic of the game.
