After rave reviews, developer of acclaimed soulslike reveals they drew the game's first map 8 years ago - before they were even a dev

Catherine Lewis
·2 min read
A screenshot from Another Crab's Treasure showing the hermit crab protagonist running from a larger crab.
A screenshot from Another Crab's Treasure showing the hermit crab protagonist running from a larger crab.
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Launch day has finally rolled around for the colorful indie soulslike Another Crab's Treasure, and after receiving an array of positive reviews, one of the developers has shared the concept for the game's map that was drawn eight years ago even before they became a dev.

Nick Kaman, Aggro Crab's studio head and art director, took to Twitter to give thanks to the rest of the team that helped bring the game to life, as well reveal part of the game's history which has been carefully preserved for the best part of a decade. As well as colorful sketches of the game's various aquatic locations, the final title of 'Another Crab's Treasure' was clearly intact at that point in time, too.

"This is a map of the game I drew eight years ago," Kaman writes, sharing an image of the artwork which has been kept safe in a golden picture frame. "That's before Aggro Crab existed and before I was in the industry at all. I feel so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to make my dream game real."

While you might have expected a lot to have changed in eight years, when it comes to the map, as indicated by the tactically placed "redacted" sticky notes, that's not the case at all. Kaman adds: "The funny thing being – the map is so accurate to what the game is now that I had to hide parts for spoilers."

Seeing how the indie studio managed to bring their initial idea to life over the years and for it to be met so positively is very wholesome, especially considering the struggles Aggro Crab faced during its development. After all, the indie studio was broken into three times during its production. That hasn't stopped the game from earning a very respectable critic score of 79 on Metacritic, though, with Aggro Crab shellebrating – sorry, celebrating – yesterday, asking "chat is this real?" For now, all that's left is for players to get their claws on the game when it goes live later today.

If you're on the lookout for more Soulslikes to test your might, be sure to check out our list of 10 games like Dark Souls.