Rune Ark
Game
Game2024
Crab God
Developer Chaos Theory Games
Crab God is an atmospheric underwater strategy game. Guide your Crabling colony through wild ocean depths, and defend the egg of the next Crab God.Restore and protect diverse coral reefs, making a difference in the real world as you progress in-game. Make waves, praise the claw! From the Steam store page
213 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 30, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
75
LovedLoved
135 positive · 44 negative
95% range 69–81%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 135 | 44 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 6 | 0 | 25 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
212 of 259 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
76% recommend · 135 yes, 42 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 177 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (274 of 340 positive).
Players praise the game's cute visuals and charming atmosphere. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note the game lacks depth and feels unfinished. [4][5][6] Several players highlight the real-world environmental impact as a unique incentive. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [5]
To my absolute core, I want to give this game a positive review, but I just can't. I do truly love it to some degree though. So from the absolute core, the game is trying to be far to many genres, and it does so kind of poorly. As well as another major issue, is the game just has corrupt sound files towards the end of a run, and finally, it just feels unfinished. I will not go so far as to call it slop or such, no …
- [1]
A fun and charming crab colony sim citybuilder with roguelike elements (for crying out loud). It plays more like an arcade game, with each level unfolding in more or less the same fashion, and seems to lack any significant depth (pun intended). But the charm definitely is there. Who wouldn't want to be a devoted deity-worshipping crab?
- [17]
Changed my review to a thumbs up! The devs patched the game the day after I posted my review and then commented to let me know. The game is a lot more engaging now that threats are working as intended. Thanks Chaos Theory team!
- [2]
This game was a fun family friendly and me-friendly time. The rewards throughout feel good and the game was a suitable difficulty. The art is a warm lovely and my eyes like them. My heart jumped with joy throughout. I highly recommend this game to anyone who has a heart or likes video games or neither or both.
- [3]
Love this adorable defender/management game! The visuals are so cute, and I enjoyed keeping my crablings alive, while watching the different sea creatures spawn depending on the plants you grow.
Summarised from 34 of the 213 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Crab God sits at 75% positive across 179 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 213 · most liked firstTo my absolute core, I want to give this game a positive review, but I just can't. I do truly love it to some degree though. So from the absolute core, the game is trying to be far to many genres, and it does so kind of poorly. As well as another major issue, is the game just has corrupt sound files towards the end of a run, and finally, it just feels unfinished. I will not go so far as to call it slop or such, no it's beautiful, it's cute, it's adorable. I love the concept of this game, I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Are you headed to #PAXU? Tell me about your panel/game/workshop/booth! I want to know! And come see PANEL DON'T KILL MY VIBE on Nov 23rd at 12pm in Crab God! I'm excited to join @intersectionscch.bsky.social @alixama.bsky.social @naladraws.com @fullrubberducky.bsky.social & @damphyr.com!
neutral · AI labelView post →🔴Live now on Twitch and YouTube STILL TRYING TO SAVE THE PLANET We're playing Crab God, where game play has real world impact! 💪🏼🌎💚 link.planetplay.com/join-the-battle #sponsored #BFTH @planetplay.com
neutral · AI labelView post →It's just Kingdom Two Crowns with crabs. Also the game doesn't respect your time, and you can't save and quit during a run.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like this game. It's a bit basic, but its worst features are how unpolished it is. Music towards the end of the game itself is actually corrupted. There's a patch of audio jank that completely ruins one of the few songs that you'll hear through this game's sparse soundtrack. That it's been this way for nearly a full year is inexcusable. Other problems include: -Cannot skip intro cinematic (or any of those). -Big problems with the scrolling, clearly meant for a tablet. -Lack of meaningful…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun and charming crab colony sim citybuilder with roguelike elements (for crying out loud). It plays more like an arcade game, with each level unfolding in more or less the same fashion, and seems to lack any significant depth (pun intended). But the charm definitely is there. Who wouldn't want to be a devoted deity-worshipping crab?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In ONE HOUR at Crab God Theater. Mess, Chaos, Sex Appeal, Intrigue and Violence! Come for the Interactive TTRPG AP Dating Game Show! Cast: @ssambrose.bsky.social @scarydogfriend.bsky.social @breeedo.bsky.social @dimplesndice.bsky.social @naladraws.com Hosted by me @intersectionscch.bsky.social
neutral · AI labelView post →The first 5 hours were fun, however it doesnt currently feel complete or like a rougelike. Nothing changes on the second run, so if you won the first there feels like no reason to continue. Really hope that work continues on this but it feels like early access to me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I purchased Crab God the day it was released, I love the idea of a beautiful undersea management strategy game involving cute crabs - This game has lived up to those expectations! It is gorgeous! - with game-play that can be set to easy breezy for casual players to claw crunching difficult for skilled crab managers! The music is great too. But what is really special about enjoying this game, is that while playing Crab God, you have a REAL-WORLD IMPACT!! Crab God works with dots.eco so that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I kept playing and thought, "This can't possibly be it, right?" And nope. You're literally just clicking a carousel of icons, round and round she goes. At least idle games reward persistence with automation. This is just busywork.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While not necessarily bad, Crab God is unfortunately pretty middling. The game will frequently give you goals (Ritual Stones) that you can't complete with the types of corals/plants in the level. The interface for which fish need which requirements could be much improved, and they could've added an interface for which kinds of coral/plant could be grown where. Crabs don't prioritize tasks in a reasonable way (plenty of food laying around but only one scavenger crab actively collecting it,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ok, so this is a cute game, but it wasn't worth what I paid for it even on sale. I paid $14.39 with humble choice on sale. I have done 2 runs and while it's a cute fun little game, there wasn't much of an incentive for me to keep playing. Maybe if they gave you some perks at the end of a run, like letting you permanently keep 1 of the shrine effects you got during your run (with no duplicates). But even then, I think there needs to be some unlocks, like unlocking a different type of character…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →join me tonight at 8p EDT for my charity stream to raise hurricane relief money for Clearwater Marine Aquarium! we'll be playing through Crab God, which i'm super excited about bc in-game achievements also translate to real-life conservation efforts made by the dev team!!!
positive · AI labelView post →Consistent errors giving bug reports in feedback tab so I'm leaving a review so they can actually fix the game. Experienced hard crash out of nowhere which made me lose 40 minutes of progress (during day cycle and not initating action so I do not know how to elaborate Repaired wall as it was being attacked which caused wall to be at full health but builder crab was stuck infinitely repairing wall until i made them stop but the ability to upgrade wall is not possible as i can only reinitialise…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Too short, not really interesting. It's cute but not deep enough, ironically enough
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game started off fun but there are a lot of crash issues. If you start a stage, it may randomly crash and you lose all progress. Wish there was some sort of autosave to prevent me having to redo stages constantly. You won't notice this issue until like 4-5 hours in and you can't refund, pretty frustrating.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A damn good strategy game with Rogue-like elements! I'm an ocean fanatic, so this game was right up my alley! Crabs are awesome and this game gave me a fun time managing crabs and their roles in order to give birth to a new crab god! Visuals are great and the atmosphere is pleasant to deal with. And i guess there is some real world implications to buying this game and making a decision in the game itself. Part of the games proceeds go into helping fund specific environmental projects (Planting…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's fun the first time you play it, but it really has no replay value sadly. The game does have potential if it gets updated though.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The demo was interesting, unfortunately, that's 100% of the game-play. I should have stopped there.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Changed my review to a thumbs up! The devs patched the game the day after I posted my review and then commented to let me know. The game is a lot more engaging now that threats are working as intended. Thanks Chaos Theory team!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →✨Bonus Stream! ✨ Gotta check out more of these amazing Next Fest Demos! Come get hype for all the new games with me! Starting with the one tiny game I didn't make it to yesterday, Crab God!! 🦀🦀🦀 Twitch.tv/FaunAndGames
neutral · AI labelView post →If you're still at PAX and looking for afternoon plans, come to Crab God 🦀 theater at 3:30 where I'll be talking about why more special education teachers should be teaching game design!
neutral · AI labelView post →Play Control (4/5) The game controls really well and there are shortcut keys for most of the functions in the game, including job changes or actions. There are a few points where the controls can get finicky; when you try to click on something in the level that's behind a crab, the selection will favor the crabs. You can click on a spot where multiple objects are multiple times and be able to scroll through them, but if you're in the heat of the moment, you need to have the slowdown mode active…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Personally (don't attack me internet) I like this game because you get to make a decision to help the world whilst playing a game. I also find the gameplay loop engaging. Tips for the game I have found (I played on Balanced difficulty) Use traps instead of walls, they help a lot with enemies and make life a lot easier. Game is designed for role swapping so be sure to take all discounts for role swapping. Click the portraits on the bottom rights when selecting a crab to retreat. Space button is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was a fun family friendly and me-friendly time. The rewards throughout feel good and the game was a suitable difficulty. The art is a warm lovely and my eyes like them. My heart jumped with joy throughout. I highly recommend this game to anyone who has a heart or likes video games or neither or both.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Final event for tonight at #PAXUnplugged, watching some TTRPGs SUCK in Crab God! Cool name, even cooler vampires, FANTASTIC PLAYERS.
neutral · AI labelView post →The game is incredibly cute and I like the focus on ecology, but the game lacks variety and challenge. I was expecting there to be a plethora of unique biomes and food chains, but you really only have access to two- and many of the plants and animals overlap both. It's technically a rogue-like, but there's not really any replay value. Maybe with a lot of meaty updates this would be a recommend, but as is I sadly can't.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While I am not there in person, you'll get to learn from five of the best people I have ever seen at the table. Go learn from the gang of killers I've assembled how to run a game for the first time! #PaxUnplugged at 12:00 in the Crab God Theatre
neutral · AI labelView post →i guess its fun but gets boring fast
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oh my gods I love this game. I don’t write reviews often and when I do, I try to wait until I’ve played a game for a good few hours. But this time I’m moved to share how I feel already. I’m finding it to be an immensely feel-good game, like it’s making something inside me soar. The combination of the gameplay, the good causes you can help out while playing, and the cuteness factor all just make it an instant hit for me. The gameplay isn’t that complicated, or at least not so far. But…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's alright it's just... nothingy. It turns into sludge pretty quick, and plays pretty slow, no depth. Outstays its welcome badly.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fri, 11/21: 🟣 Enter the Stillness - Fifth Season Live Game, 5:30-7pm ET, Kelpie Theatre Sat, 11/22: 🟣 How to Avoid Creating a Non-Melanated Game Group Revisited, 11am-Noon ET, Kelpie Theatre 🟣 So Your Friends Have Suckered You Into Running a Game. What now? (13+), Noon-1pm ET, Crab God Theatre
neutral · AI labelView post →Sometimes a cozy coral reef farming game, sometimes and intense tower defense game. Just gotta get the egg to the spot.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love this adorable defender/management game! The visuals are so cute, and I enjoyed keeping my crablings alive, while watching the different sea creatures spawn depending on the plants you grow.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is one of those reviews where it really needs a neutral option. Game looks and sounds great and it apparently has real world impact events though I'm yet to see one even with completing a full play through. It starts quite fun and low pressure but the difficulty spikes rapidly. It's a shame the game presents itself as being a causal stress free lite strategy game because in the later levels, especially if you've stayed in an area for a few days this is really not the case at all. The…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's very rare for a game of this simplicity to involve you on every level of the game experience: From the crab god himself, to the emotional attachment you develop to every crab you have, to the journey itself and why the crabs are doing it, to the stories you make in your head as you play, to the causes that the developers are trying to support with the donations that you can contribute to with your playtime. Even developer involvement on their discord, as they chat and take your suggestions…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's an interesting concept but the game unironically has no depth. Every stage is the same gameplay loop over and over with little to no variance. Extremely slow paced and unintuitive UI design that leaves alot to be desired. Majority of my first run was spent tabbed out of the game and still won. If this game wasn't part of a bundle I would have refunded it. If you really want this game then at least wait for a huge discount.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love the little crabs. I love to click the mouse around. Everything feels really good and it's so satisfying to just sit down and tidy up a level over and over. Everything looks so nice and pleasant you never really get over staring at your little aquarium. It keeps on getting updates to make the game even better! God bless you for speeding up the feeding animation.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Excellent and cute management game. Really scratches an itch that only a crab god's claw could scratch! I'm a huge Kingdom fan and it's obvious that the devs are as well after playing this. It is also so nice to see a game where the devs are actively supporting and updating the game whilst also contributing with a real world impact. One of the mechanics in the game is that upon finding and completing an special objective in a level that gives you bonuses you can decide where a portion of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →gets very repetitive very fast and enimes simply get more hp and spawn in larger swarms instead of having anything new and the biomes are mostly re-skins that add more things to place without real depth ironically for the games theme crablins dieing is also very punishing since its permanent and entirely destroys the difficulty curve if you struggle once due to there not being a way to recover leaving you under-powered
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a nice little game with an impact in the real world. Playing and simultaniously doing something for the ocean is a definite win-win situation.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The entire game is clicking on farm plots and picking jobs for your crabs. I was told there would be "Rogue-lite elements" but that's just picking randomized buff / debuff combos that go better with certain jobs after every stage. Even worse, there are little / no worthwhile buffs for certain jobs like Hunter and Builder. You're far better off just taking generic buffs and using all of your crabs for 3 or so jobs and just swapping when there are mobs. The graphics are good and it's got a nice…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think this game has a lot of potential, it is fun and cute at heart. Levels also blend together and the core gameplay loop gets repetitively boring fast. Not much to do beyond click on things to set actions on and wait, with little challenge beyond taking the time to level up the correct number of plants to drive the correct fish and accomplish the mini puzzles on each level. There isn't enough difference between crab A and crab B of the same roles even at the end of the game they all feel…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →9.5/10: Loved: - Everything about the crabling design is cute: their look, animation, and accessories - Overall art is beautiful - Ecosystem building is deceptively complex - have to be strategic with which plants to grow and which animals to have - Eco rewards are fulfilling: I love that players can have a positive impact on the environment through their gameplay Area of improvement: - There were some levels that had plant and animal requirements for ritual stones, but none of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Simplistic and very poorly explained. Not fun at all.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love this game!!! So cute. The noises and sound design are amazing, the graphics adorable, and the environmental impact provides an amazing incentive to play something I would likely be playing already. I hope this game gets updates because it fills a niche that few other games even try to go for. I'm so tired of the same aesthetics being used for strategy games, so Crab God has been quite refreshing. I'd like to see it continue to grow. I will likely do a CG stream on my twitch (puptartist)…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Thanks for 1000 #bluesky followers🦋 #PitfallsTTRPG is an upcoming #indiegame #ttrpg full of improv & roleplay opportunities, random number generation chaos & failures that feel fun! See our game played live at #PAXUnplugged Saturday night @ 8:30pm in Crab God Theatre. More #PAXU info coming soon!
neutral · AI labelView post →havent had this for long but I really like that the crab is like crabby and that the world gets more crabby when people play crabby crab
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The style is so adorable and the game is quite fun, it does get frustrating on some of the randomized levels when you literally can't complete some tasks because you weren't given enough planting slots, but I still love this game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →crab. be crab. make crab crab. crab crab crab.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There isn't much content, and every run is the same.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Guide a crabling colony and defend the ocean deity in this wholesome strategy game from @chaostheorygames.bsky.social 🌊 Save 80% on this cozy underwater sim until October 1 🦀 #CrabGod #CozyGames #Roguelike
neutral · AI labelView post →Good for a few hours of fun, after the first run though, i don't see the re-playability of the game. If its on sale, give it a go, complete the first run, and youve made your money in entertainment
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I liked the game and loved the real world impact idea (however small it might be). Was looking forward to completing the full run to see the ending. HOWEVER, a game where late missions tend to last an hour or more and autosaves only happen between said missions, does not have the luxury of crashing mid-level. That's a hard NO. Also, the UI is a rather lacking: when a wall gets swarmed by a ton of enemies, good luck clicking it to issue a repair order. Not gonna happen. On top of that, in…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kinda obsessed with this game! XD its fast paced, adorable little crabbies and I love it so much. We also got a funny giggle out of the migration screen going from cute to horror when you look at the path. LOOOVVEEE ITTT
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crab God, developed by Chaos Theory Games and published by Firesquid, offers a distinct and refreshing experience in the strategy and simulation genre by immersing players in an underwater world filled with vibrant life and delicate ecosystems. At its core, the game places you in the role of the Guardian of the Abyss, responsible for leading a colony of small crustacean-like creatures known as Crablings on a vital migration journey to ensure the birth of the next Crab God. This premise…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really cute game. Grow food > fish eat food > fish drop food > eat food ... rinse and repeat Make the pros stand out. Raise sharks to fight for you. Decimate evil starfish. Crab communism at it's finest!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →High potential but feels unfinished. At climatic times it gets nearly impossible to react to anything because im just constantly clicking on the enemies or crabs that aren't being targeted. Its a shame theres no notifications when a crabling finishes a task or obvious health bars on each crab on the bottom right. There doesn't feel like much strategy to the game other than assigning tasks (the hardest part about the management is forgetting abt an upgrade and being caught blindsided). The game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great balance between engaging gameplay and discovering real ecosystems. The embedded real-world impact through dots.eco feels very nice too.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🎶Under the se- twitch.tv/yipikaa 🦀Crab God, a game about cleaning up the ocean, and becoming the new God of Crabs! #Vtuber #gaming #streamer #twitch #twitchstreamer
neutral · AI labelView post →
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