Interview: 3Guns Studio Talks Crabs, Angry French Chefs, and Combat That Is Sneakier Than It Looks
When a game pitches itself as kitchen chaos, a deranged French chef, and fighting parkour crabs, there is not really a follow-up question to ask.
We recently caught up with Rich at 3Guns Studio to talk about Crabs, a multiplayer brawler where crustaceans scramble around a sandbox arena, haul each other about, and cause a furious Frenchman to lose his mind in his own kitchen.
We spoke about Super Monkey Ball, a mechanic that still refuses to behave, and the half hour of uncontrollable laughing that came out of filming a grant application video.
Quickfire Round
First console/system you ever owned?
The one and only classic NES. In his own words: oh, how he loved it.
Favourite boss fight of all time?
Rich drew a complete blank on this one and asked us to remind him of a few good ones. Which is, if we are being honest… Glados, Classic Ragnaros, Bowser, maybe that’s a new post idea…
Go-to snack during crunch?
Popcorn. He knows it is a weird one. Personally I love sweet and salty…
Pizza topping that must survive the apocalypse?
Olives, and he is not open to debate.
The best thing ever for pizza.
One game you’d love to experience again for the first time?
Final Fantasy VII.
Monkey Boxing, But With Claws
The one line pitch (or maybe pinch…) does most of the heavy lifting by itself.
Kitchen chaos, a deranged chef and fighting parkour crabs. What more could you want?
Nothing. That is the correct answer.
The idea did not come from a dream or a decade of planning, though. It came from a party game that has nothing to do with seafood.
It was loosely based on Super Monkey Ball, Monkey boxing, as I had great fun playing that.
Swap the monkeys for crabs, swap the arena for a kitchen, and add a French chef with a temper. Simple.
The Mechanic That Still Will Not Behave
Every developer has one system that fights back. For Rich, it is the one where crabs pick each other up and carry them around the level.
Carrying other opponents. I’m not sure it’s working properly still.
There is something wonderfully honest about a dev who will say that out loud rather than quietly pretend the feature shipped perfectly.
It is also worth remembering who is doing the fixing.
I’m a single man indie studio, so support is always appreciated.
One person. All those crabs. I’m sure there are meds for that…
Wait, Is This Secretly a Platformer?
The lightbulb moment came from throwing all the sandbox mechanics together and watching what happened.
Testing out the various mechanics and realising, this could have been a platformer!
Crab legs turn out to be surprisingly good at getting places they were never meant to go.
The Bit Players Do Not Notice At First
Ask Rich what he is proudest of and he does not point at the chaos. He points at the thing hiding underneath it.
The general mix of all the sandbox mechanics and the fact that it’s not instantly noticeable but combat actually has depth, with Rock, paper, scissors style attacks that can break or defend against others.
So the flailing on your screen is not flailing.
It is a read on your opponent.
Probably.
The Grant Video That Turned Into a Comedy Sketch
Asked for the funniest thing that has happened during development, Rich did not reach for a bug. He reached for a filming session.
Recording the video for the epic megagrant application, a friend of mine helped me and we just ended up laughing for half an hour!
Somewhere there is footage of a man trying to explain crab combat with a straight face. We would like to see it.
As for what a secret cheat code would unlock, the answer is another Donald Trump skin. This one after he has made a mess of his suit.
Play It With Friends, Not Strangers
Rich is refreshingly upfront about how Crabs is actually best enjoyed, and it is not by dropping into a lobby full of randoms.
Whilst this is built for online play, it actually works best with friends rather than strangers!
And the feeling he wants players to walk away with is possibly the best answer this series has ever received.
Man that guy French Chef is crazier and angrier than a bag of crabs slow boiling!
I have nothing to add to that.
Looking Ahead
There is more planned, but Rich is honest that it depends on players turning up.
New game modes, perhaps bots too, I’d like to support the game for a while and add to it, but I need the community behind me to achieve that.
The dream publisher is Apogee, on the strength of the games they put out back in the day.
And whatever comes next is already well underway, and it looks nothing like this one.
I’m currently quite far into development on an isometric shooter with a running man vibe and hilarious violence! A bit of a far cry from crabs!
How to Support 3Guns Studio
The ask is simple. Buy it, play it, then tell him everything that is broken.
Buy the game, it’s not expensive and join the discord to tell me about all the problems I need to fix! Also feedback on what type of game modes you would like to see in the future using the existing mechanics!
Website: http://www.3guns.co.uk
Discord: https://discord.gg/jDgF2Gd96c
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVWKCXYsc24ie-Q29qK7xEA/about
Crabs is exactly what it says on the tin: a kitchen, a chef losing his temper in French, and a scrum of crustaceans doing parkour over the worktops. Grab three friends and find out who is actually good at rock, paper, scissors.