Fight Crab Review Summary

A fun crab-themed fighter with a diverse roster, upgrades, and multiplayer/co-op, though clunky controls can make it feel unintuitive.

Entertaining and fun gameplay: Players consistently describe the game as highly entertaining, fun, and a fantastic time waster. It provides a lot of fun whether playing solo or against friends.

Diverse crab roster: There is a large variety of crabs to choose from, including favorites like Coconut Crab and Elbow Crab. Each crab has different weapon swings, making exploration of fighting styles fun.

Shop and upgrade system: The shop allows buying weapons and items to help your crab fight, and also enables becoming different crabs like Coconut Crab and Elbow Crab. Players can upgrade and level up crabs using money to enhance resistance, movement, or strength.

Play as a crab: The unique concept of playing as a crab is a major draw, with many players citing it as a primary reason to play. The crab elements are enjoyable and differentiate the game.

Unwieldy controls enjoyable: The controls are unwieldy but allow for interesting gameplay. Despite the controls, the game remains fun, and once mastered, players can attack and move as intended.

Clunky and unintuitive controls: Many players report that the controls feel clunky, unwieldy, and difficult to learn, especially movement and camera. Keyboard and mouse controls are particularly problematic, with some describing them as god awful.

Combat lacks depth and clarity: Combat feels like flailing more than fighting, with imprecise hit detection, zero-distance brawls, and tangled weapons. It is deliberately not intuitive and lacks strategic depth.

Unpolished UI and visuals: The UI is barebones, crude, and has placeholder-looking elements, harsh sound effects, and janky menus. Graphics are also criticized as not the best, eye-searing, or causing screen overflow on launch.

Poor online multiplayer experience: Finding online matches is very hard because the player base is empty or sparse, and the online PvP feels like solo roleplay. Many say the multiplayer is not worth the price and wouldn't recommend it.

Game is too short and repetitive: Players find the game short, with content running out after a few hours, and it quickly becomes boring and not replayable. The campaign can be beaten quickly, and achievements are few.

Crab-themed competitive fighting game: Players control weapon-wielding crabs in physics-based battles to knock opponents onto their backs. The game blends absurd crustacean combat with competitive 1v1 to 4v4 fights and has elements that could appeal to the fighting game community.

Multiplayer and co-op support: The game supports local split-screen, online multiplayer, Remote Play Together, and couch co-op. Players can engage in versus matches and cooperative play with friends.

Crab customization and progression: Players can customize crabs with weapons and upgrade attributes such as tenacity and stamina. There is also a progression system where crabs level up, ascend to higher power levels, and can be mutated into different subspecies.

Weapon variety and stealing: Multiple weapons are available, including guns, revolvers, and environmental objects like chairs. Players can also take weapons from defeated enemies and use them against their foes.

Unlockable playable crustaceans: A variety of playable crabs can be unlocked, including a lobster, king crab, and mantis shrimp. Each crab has its own abilities, speed, power, weight, and weapon swing style.

Controller functionality broke recently: Controller support stopped working for one player in the past week, despite previously functioning in this game and continuing to work in other games. This suggests a recent game update or driver conflict.

Steam Deck menu rendering issue: On Steam Deck with Proton, the main menu displays only text against a black void instead of the usual in-game footage. This visual bug affects the menu experience.

Stable performance with physics emphasis: Reviews indicate generally stable performance, with the game's physics being a key element. Players find it reliable for what it offers.

Wait for sale: Multiple reviewers suggest getting the game on sale or waiting for a discount, including checking gameplay first. Sale purchases are highly recommended over full price.

Absurdist multiplayer fun: The game is recommended for players who like absurdist games and wacky beat-em-up fun, suitable for online multiplayer. It provides a relaxing and stress-relieving experience, good for a few laughs online or with friends.

Highly recommended overall: Reviewers highly and whole-heartedly recommend the game, encouraging players not to hesitate to add it to their library. It is recommended to everyone and worth the $10 price.

Crab fighting fun: Players recommend the game for those who enjoy crabs and fighting, calling it everything you could want from a crab fighting game. It is a no-brainer for crab enthusiasts and those with friends ready for a crab battle.

Great with friends: The game is highly recommended for group play, couch co-op, or shared screen sessions, generating anecdotes and friendly competition in minutes. It is a hit at parties if players endure the learning curve and have patient friends.

Community fair range: $9.99 - $14.99.

Game completion: 1.0h.

Story completion: 2.5h.

Session length: 1.0h.

Endgame: 1000.0h.

Fight Crab is reported as a clicks-after party brawler: early janky controls and a steep learning curve delay the fun, but once players get past that and have friends or co-op, it can become a riot. Some players still find it clunky and repetitive, especially without others.

Friction: extremely janky control learning curve; huge learning curve; first few hours flailing wildly; clunky controls; repetitive, novelty dies fast; without friends it deflates quickly.

Social Party Brawler: Casual local/online co-op and party matches, leaning into intentionally awkward physics. Motivation: Shared laughter and chaotic fun with friends. Stance: sale.

Competitive FGC Hopeful: Ranked and casual online versus, seeking skilled opponents and scene growth. Motivation: Competitive online duels and the dream of an active fighting-game scene. Stance: no buy.

Co-op Campaign Min-Maxer: Experiments with loadouts and stat upgrades while playing campaign co-op or AI-assisted solo. Motivation: Optimizing crab builds and clearing campaign co-op with a chosen partner. Stance: buy.

Steam Deck: The Steam Deck experience is not seamless. Users must manually install and switch Proton versions and enable compatibility settings to run unsupported titles. Reports also mention potential anti-cheat incompatibility, missing main-menu footage, and occasional on-screen unreadability, while controls are generally fine. The overall friction is moderate: playable after tinkering, but not a native out-of-the-box experience.

Linux and Proton: The Linux/Proton evidence is limited but consistent with workaround-heavy compatibility rather than a polished native experience. Users describe selecting different Proton versions, consulting ProtonDB, and testing GE-Proton builds; one GE-Proton7-27 test shows missing in-game menu footage despite audio. The same user eventually gets Fight Crab and other Unsupported games running on Steam Deck, so the title is playable after tinkering, not broken.

Developer and publisher background: Developed by Calappa Games and published by PLAYISM, with a history of seafood-themed high-quality nonsense games like Ace of Seafood. Also published by Paradox Interactive.

Positive comparisons to other games: Reviewers compare the game favorably to Goat Simulator (buggy but good), Earth Defense Force, and Super Smash Bros. It is also likened to Ace of Seafood and other off-kilter Japanese battlers.

Steam Deck compatibility issues: The game is marked as Unsupported on Steam Deck by default, but a workaround using ProtonUp-Qt and GE-Proton7 exists. However, not all unsupported games work with this method, and those with Easy Anti-Cheat reportedly do not work.

Short campaign and quick completion: The campaign is short, taking only two to three hours to beat, and players can achieve 100% completion in about an hour. This brevity is noted in comparisons to other fighting games.

Gameplay becomes repetitive quickly: The novelty of the game dies fast, leading to a repetitive experience. Quality is considered middling, and the game is often compared to quirky titles like QWOP.