Highlights

  • Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is set to release on June 1, 2024, adding new environments, bosses, enemies, weapons, and characters.
  • While this DLC is exciting, soulslike fans should still keep an eye out for Another Crab's Treasure, a humorously unique take on the Soulslike genre with a focus on shell abilities and underwater biomes.
  • Another Crab's Treasure stands out with its over 50 different shell abilities, encouraging players to experiment and explore its humor-filled gameplay loop.

Arguably FromSoftware's magnum opus, Elden Ring has been the most successful game in the studio's surprisingly long history, with its 23 million sold copies beating out every entry in the Dark Souls series, every Armored Core game, and even the Game Awards' 2019 Game of the Year winner Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. A truly immense success both critically and commercially, it didn't take long before a paid DLC was announced for Elden Ring, and after a year of waiting, fans finally have a release date.

Set to launch on June 1, 2024, Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC looks incredibly promising already, introducing brand-new environments, bosses, enemies, weapons, and characters to the already jam-packed game. But while Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC will undoubtedly be the talk of the town right up until, and well after its June release, there's one game that Soulslike fans shouldn't forget about so quickly, and that's Another Crab's Treasure.

Elden Ring Malenia Title
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Elden Ring Fans Should Keep an Eye on Another Crab's Treasure

What Another Crab's Treasure Does Differently From Other Soulslikes

First announced back in May 2022, Another Crab's Treasure has been slowly making a name for itself in the wider Soulslike community. Coming from Aggro Crab, the developer behind the refreshingly funny 2020 roguelike Going Under, Another Crab's Treasure takes a similar tongue-in-cheek approach with both its content and its adopted genre, though rather than poke fun at the conventions of roguelikes, Another Crab's Treasure is set to put a fun new spin on the Soulslike genre.

Putting players in the non-existent shoes of Kril the hermit crab, Another Crab's Treasure will see players make their way through various undersea biomes and face off against countless underwater foes, all in an attempt to find Kril's prized shell. It's an extremely simple premise, but it's this simplicity that allows the developer to really focus on being as creative as possible when it comes to the game's satire and more unique Soulslike mechanics.

Another Crab's Treasure received a lot of buzz back at the end of 2023, with a demo being made available during Steam Next Fest. Though the demo had its technical issues, many players were very happy with the gameplay itself, comparing the responsiveness of the game's controls and combat to Sekiro .

The core gimmick of Another Crab's Treasure, and the biggest thing that sets it apart from other Soulslikes, is its shell feature. Strewn all across Another Crab's Treasure's underwater biomes, players can find over 50 different types of shell, all of which grant the player a unique ability. These shells range from random pieces of trash that simply act as a shield against enemy attacks, to more distinctive repurposed everyday items that grant the player a unique "Shell Spell" such as launching spikes into an enemy.

Based on all the pre-release trailers, it seems as though these shells will be central to Another Crab's Treasure's core gameplay loop, with the game's durability system encouraging the player to experiment with every type of shell available to them. Along with its strong focus on humor, this shell gimmick could be more than enough to set Another Crab's Treasure apart from other recent Soulslikes, and with it dropping just over a month before Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, it could act as a nice light-hearted refresher for fans who haven't gone back to the genre since Elden Ring's initial release back at the start of 2022.