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Crab Game

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Crab Game
Developer(s)Daniel Sooman
Publisher(s)Daniel Sooman
Composer(s)Context Sensitive
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release29 October 2021
Genre(s)Party, battle royale
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Crab Game is a free-to-play video game developed and published by Norwegian indie developer Daniel Sooman, also known as Dani.[1][2] The game was initially released for Linux and macOS on Itch.io and for Windows on Steam on 29 October 2021; the Linux and macOS editions were later released on Steam on 16 November. Based on the Netflix series Squid Game, players compete with each other in minigames in order to be the last one alive.

Gameplay

[edit]

Crab Game is a competitive online first-person party game where players compete in various minigames 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.[3] Players can attack others with various items, compete in various maps and game modes and communicate with each other through proximity chat. Players can also create servers with up to 40 players or join existing ones. While the game initially featured primarily Squid Game-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.[4][5][6][7]

Developer

[edit]
Dani
Born
Daniel William Sooman

(1997-06-15) 15 June 1997 (age 27)
Norway
Years active2018–present[8]
Notable work
  • Karlson 3D
  • Muck
  • Crab Game
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2018–2022
Subscribers3.54 million[8]
Total views279.4 million[8]
Last updated: 12 November 2023
Websitehttps://danidev.net/

Daniel William Sooman (born 15 June 1997),[9] known online as Dani, is a comedic Norwegian[10] YouTuber and an indie game developer.[11] He is the developer of Crab Game. He also developed the open world game Muck and continues to develop the game Karlson 3D.[8]

Career

[edit]

Dani started making programming and indie game development videos in 2018.[8]

In late 2019, Sooman started the development of Karlson 3D prompted by commenters challenging him to do so. Dani went on to create development log videos for Karlson 3D like the ones that gained him his initial following on YouTube.[12]

In late 2020, during the surge in popularity of the games Fall Guys and Among Us, Sooman challenged himself to recreate the viral games within the span of one week.[13] The games were not released to the general public, but were made available to Twitch streamers and YouTubers.[14] 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, Dream and Jacksepticeye.[15]

In June 2021, in response to a YouTube comment that claimed, in a similar way to the comment that started Karlson, that he was unable to make a survival and open world game, Sooman decided to create a Minecraft-styled, simplistic open world game titled Muck. The game was released on video game platform Steam.[16]

In October 2021, Sooman released Crab Game.[2]

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.[17]

Development and release

[edit]

Crab Game was initially created in response to Squid Game's popularity and was named as such to avoid a cease and desist letter from Netflix.[2] Developed in around two weeks, Crab Game was released on Steam for Windows on 29 October 2021.[18] The game was released on Itch.io for macOS and Linux as Dani was unsure of their stability due to not being able to test them;[4] said versions were later released on Steam on 16 November.[19] Since its release, Crab Game has been receiving content updates consisting of new maps, more games, and better optimization for both slower computers and internet speeds.[7]

DDoS attacks

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On 2 November 2021, xQc, a Twitch streamer, experienced a DDoS attack while playing Crab Game, causing him to lose his internet connection.[20] Other Twitch streamers also experienced DDoS attacks, such as Sodapoppin and Nick Polom.[21] Developer Dani confirmed the issues were caused by the old Steam networking code the game was using, which made the IP addresses of players public; he urged players to not join any public lobbies to prevent any further DDoS attacks.[22] The issue has since been fixed.[7][21]

Reception

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Crab Game was well-received upon its initial release, reaching an all-time peak of 283,315 players on Steam and over 211,000 viewers on Twitch.[2][6][23] The game also quickly gained exposure on YouTube.[24] In early 2023, the game experienced another peak in players after a group of VTubers played the game in a collaboration, reaching up to around 42,000 concurrent players.[25]

The game was nominated for the "Better With Friends" category of the 2021 Steam Awards, but lost to It Takes Two.[26][27]

References

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  1. ^ Miccoli, Salvatore (7 November 2021). "Crab Game: ecco come scaricare il videogioco gratis sfacciatamente copiato da Squid Game". justnerd.it (in Italian). Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Grayson, Nathan (5 November 2021). "Netflix just got into video games. It's already playing catch-up with 'Squid Game' fans". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  3. ^ White, James (16 November 2021). "Which Battle Royale Game Is Right for Me?". Collider. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b McWhertor, Michael (2 November 2021). "Squid Game knockoff Crab Game blows up on Steam, Twitch". Polygon. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  5. ^ Colbert, Isaiah (3 November 2021). "A Squid Game Clone Is Taking Over Twitch". Kotaku. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  6. ^ a b Gerblick, Jordan (29 October 2021). "This Crab Game on Steam would make a great Netflix series". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Polhamus, Blaine (8 November 2021). "Crab Games gets new modes and maps in first content update". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e "About Dani". YouTube.
  9. ^ @danidevyt (15 June 2019). "Thank you! <3" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 June 2022 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ "Making a Game, But I Only Have 3 Days". YouTube.
  11. ^ "Dani - YouTube". YouTube.
  12. ^ He said I Couldn't Make a 3D Game... So I Made One!, retrieved 9 April 2022
  13. ^ Sooman, Daniel (18 September 2020). "I Made Fall Guys in 1 Week... and Tricked Them to Think it's Real!". YouTube.
  14. ^ Linhares, Nádia (9 October 2020). "YouTuber Dani recreates Among Us in 3D". Dot Esports. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  15. ^ Sooman, Daniel (14 November 2020). "He said I Couldn't Make a 3D Game... So I Made One!". YouTube.
  16. ^ "Popular survival game 'Muck!' was created by YouTuber Dani out of spite". NME. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  17. ^ Dani2 (27 April 2022). "Lets talk about KARLSON". YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Abuelhawa, Laila (3 November 2021). "'Squid Game' Free Knockoff Multiplayer Crab Game Goes Viral". WMGK. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Crab Game Content Update 2". Steam. 16 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  20. ^ Reyes, Jessica (4 November 2021). "How This Squid Game Clone Got xQc Kicked Off The Internet". SVG.com. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  21. ^ a b Polhamus, Blaine (5 November 2021). "Crab Game developer says game is 'safe' after DDoS scare". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  22. ^ Polhamus, Blaine (2 November 2021). "Developer of Crab Game warns streamers to 'stay away from public lobbies' to avoid risking DDoS attacks". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  23. ^ Kelly, Erron (2 November 2021). "Crab Game is popular and leaking IP addresses". VentureBeat. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  24. ^ Liang, Lu-Hai (30 November 2021). "Crab Game, Which Is Definitely Not Based On A Korean TV Show, Is At The Tail End Of A Dying Trend". TheGamer. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  25. ^ Harris, Iain (6 February 2023). "Free-to-play Squid Game imitator rockets up the Steam charts, again, after VTuber team-up". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  26. ^ Murray, Sean (22 December 2021). "Valve Announces Steam Awards Nominees". TheGamer.com. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  27. ^ "CrabGames website was born in 2024 and synthesizes HTML5 games". CrabGames. Red Ventures. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
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