Crabs: Chef’s Story

Crabs: Chef’s Story is a multiplayer PvP brawler for two to eight players. It is styled after couch party games but is designed for online and LAN play rather than local multiplayer. Players choose a crab and fight in a kitchen arena, with rounds lasting between two and seven minutes. Each match is accompanied by commentary from ‘Chef’, a French character who owns the kitchen and serves losing crabs as dishes.

The combat system, referred to as ‘Crab-Fu’, includes a jab, uppercut, dash, flip, ground pound, grab and throw. Certain actions counter others: blocking a charging dash leaves the attacker dizzy, a timed uppercut breaks a block, and dodging avoids incoming attacks. Movement, called ‘Park-Claw’, covers jumping, climbing, swimming and scuttling. Scuttling at full speed builds a resource called ‘Crab-Zen’, which is spent on special moves such as dashes, counters and ground pounds. The kitchen itself contains hazards and tools: extractor fans lift players to higher ground but have blades, tin cans and produce can be thrown for one-hit kills, jellies bounce opponents, and knives, cleavers, rolling pins, soup and hobs can eliminate players. Power-ups include fruit cannons, a size-increasing transformation and throwable bombs.

At launch the game includes one mode, Battle Mode, a sumo-style free-for-all in which the kitchen floor is lethal and the player with the most kills wins. Rules can be customised. Characters can be personalised through eight cosmetic slots covering skins and apparel; costume pieces can be knocked off opponents mid-match and worn, and collecting a full set triggers a transformation. The game is released in Early Access, with the developer stating that additional modes, arenas and content will be added over time with community input.