''Crab Game'' is a

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed and published by

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

indie developer An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...

Daniel Sooman, known online as Dani. The game was released for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

and for

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

and

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

Itch.io Itch.io (stylized as itch.io) is a website for users to host, sell and download indie games. Launched in March 2013 by Leaf Corcoran, the service hosts over 500,000 games and items (assets, ebooks, music) . Itch.io also allows users to host ...

on 29 October 2021; the macOS and Linux editions were later released on Steam on 16 November. Based on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

Squid Game ''Squid Game'' () is a South Korean survival drama television series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. Its cast includes Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryou ...

'', players compete with each other in a wide range of

minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than th ...

s in order to be the last one alive.

Gameplay

''Crab Game'' is a first-person

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

party game Party games are games that are played at social gatherings to facilitate interaction and provide entertainment and recreation. Categories include (explicit) icebreaker, parlour (indoor), picnic (outdoor), and large group games.Frankel, Lillian; ...

where players compete in various

s based around childhood games. The player must avoid dying and be the last one remaining in order to win a cash prize; however, the game ends if there is nobody left. Players can attack others with various items, compete in various maps and

game mode In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-shap ...

s and communicate with each other through

proximity chat Proximity chat or spatial chat is type of internet platform that overlays video teleconferencing software on a virtual world environment, so that users can navigate freely and have conversations among small groups. Proximity chat as a genre has e ...

. Players can also create servers with up to 50 players or join existing ones. While the game initially featured primarily ''

''-inspired minigames, a series of content updates have expanded the game to have a variety of game modes and maps unique to ''Crab Game'', with no discernible connection to the series.

Developer

Daniel William Sooman (born 15 June 1997), known online as Dani, is a comedic

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

and an

indie game developer An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...

. He is the developer of Crab Game. He also developed the open world game Muck and continues to develop the game Karlson 3D.

Career

Dani started making programming and indie game development videos in 2018. In late 2019, Sooman started the development of ''Karlson 3D'' prompted by commenters challenging him to do so. Development log videos that gained him the initial following on YouTube. In late 2020, during the surge in popularity of the games ''

Fall Guys ''Fall Guys'' (formerly known as ''Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout'') is a free-to-play platform battle royale game developed by Mediatonic. The game involves up to 60 players who control jellybean-like creatures and compete against each other ...

'' and ''

Among Us ''Among Us'' is a 2018 online multiplayer social deduction game developed and published by American game studio Innersloth. The game was inspired by the party game Mafia and the science fiction horror film '' The Thing''. The game allows for ...

'', Sooman challenged himself to recreate the viral games within the span of one week. The games were not released to the general public, but were made available to Twitch streamers and YouTubers. Following the release of his video on the recreation of ''Among Us'' in 3D, he appeared playing this game along with many other famous YouTubers like

MrBeast Jimmy Donaldson (born May 7, 1998), better known as MrBeast, is an American YouTube personality, credited with pioneering a genre of YouTube videos that centers on expensive stunts. His MrBeast YouTube channel had 112.2 million subscribers as ...

Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

and

Jacksepticeye Seán William McLoughlin (born 7 February 1990), better known as Jacksepticeye, is an Irish YouTuber, best known for his vlogs and comedic Let's Play series. , his channel has over 15.7 billion views and 28.9 million subscribers, and is the mo ...

. In June 2021, after getting a comment on his YouTube video that assumed he could make a open-world

survival game Survival games are a sub-genre of action video games, which are usually set in hostile, intense, open-world environments. Players generally start with minimal equipment and are required to survive as long as possible by crafting tools, weapons, ...

, Sooman decided to create a

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...

-styled, simplistic open world game titled ''Muck''. The game was released on video game platform

. In October 2021, Sooman released ''Crab Game''. In April 2022, Sooman released a video on his second YouTube channel, Dani2, where he talks about how the growing pressure and expectations for Karlson has caused him to suffer from burn out, though he reassured his audience that he would finish Karlson some day.

Development and release

''Crab Game'' was initially created in two weeks in response to ''Squid Game'' popularity and was named as such to avoid a

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...

letter from

. On 29 October 2021, ''Crab Game'' was released on

for

. The game was released on

for

and

as Dani was unsure of their stability due to not being able to

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

them; said editions were later released on Steam on 16 November. Since its release, ''Crab Game'' has been receiving content updates consisting of new maps, more games, and better optimization for slower computers or internet speeds.

Reception

''Crab Game'' was well-received upon its initial release, reaching an all-time peak of over 56,000 players on Steam and over 211,000 viewers on

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...

. The game also quickly gained exposure on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

DDoS attacks

On 2 November 2021,

Twitch streamer An online streamer or live streamer is a person who broadcasts themselves online through a live stream to an audience. History Streaming arose in the early 2010s, originating on sites like YouTube where users could upload videos of themselves i ...

xQc Félix Lengyel (; born November 12, 1995), better known as xQc or by his former screenname xQcOW, is a Canadian Twitch (service), Twitch streamer, internet personality, and former professional ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'' player. Le ...

experienced a

DDoS attack In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyber-attack A cyberattack is any offensive maneuver that targets computer information systems, computer networks, infrastructures, or personal computer devices. An attacker is a p ...

while playing ''Crab Game'', causing him to disconnect from the internet. Various Twitch streamers also experienced DDoS attacks, such as

Sodapoppin Thomas Chance Morris (born February 15, 1994), better known as Sodapoppin, is an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber. He has one of the largest followings on Twitch, with over 8.7 million followers and over 398.3 million views as of August 15, ...

and Nick Polom. Developer Dani confirmed the issues were caused by the old Steam networking code the game was using, which made the

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...

es of players public; he urged players to not join any public lobbies to prevent any DDoS attacks. The issue has since been fixed.

Awards

References

{{Squid Game Video games based on television series 2021 video games Video games developed in Norway Windows games Free-to-play video games Indie video games Multiplayer online games MacOS games First-person video games Linux games Squid Game Party video games