King of Crabs is Fortnite with crabs, and you pretty much have to play it Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. King of Crabs is Fortnite with crabs, and you pretty much have to play it Pincer movement. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Updated on 11 Jul 2019 38 comments One of the most disquieting things about lobster - a creature that urinates through its face, I have been told, and is therefore at a pretty rarified level of disquiet already - is that beneath the shell they seem to be all lobster. Maybe you have watched lobster being poached in butter on a cookery show. The claw is removed. The shell of the claw is cracked open. And inside, a perfect padded claw-shape of lobster, a novelty lobster claw cushion of meat. And nothing else! How do these things work? How do they get about and skitter around the seafloor? How can they even master the effort required to urinate through their own faces (I have only been told this, I might be wrong) when they're just meat wandering around inside a shell? Lots of lobsters in King of Crabs. Lots of turtles and sea spiders and, of course, lots of crabs. And there's that awareness of the shell, too: the crunch and crack and then all the meat beneath. King of Crabs, and there is no other way of saying this, is the best crab-based Battle Royale I have ever played. It is so forcefully strange, so certain about itself and its intentions, that after I downloaded it last night and played for about an hour, I had to keep returning to it just to make sure it was real. It is real. Someone has made a multiplayer crab-battling game, and treated it as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It's wonderful. It's so simple, too. You take a crab and scuttle about the place, eating everything smaller than you, running from everything bigger. This is pretty much the algorithm for crabs, I gather. This is pretty much what goes on in their heads. The more you eat, the bigger you get. Eventually - I have never reached this point - you must be crowned king of the crabs. What a moment that will be! I wonder if crabs urinate through their faces too. I should really look some of this up. I completely neglected to mention this elsewhere because I am thick, but this is a smartphones game. Anyway, there's a PvE mode and a PvP mode and a special mode that throws in a gimmick that changes every now and then. Combat is based around pretty much pushing your crab against another crab and hoping you take chunks out of it quickest. It's a lot of fun to race around the detailed, busy environments, joining a bunch of players from all over the world in a giant lurid crab-off. The more you eat the bigger you get, there are weapon boxes to open, and at some point I even had a shield and a baseball bat. Seriously, a crab with a baseball bat. A lot of things that have happened in my life felt like they had been building to that particular moment. The front end seems to have taken tips from the way Supercell does things in terms of progression and unlocks. I mention this only because I was greeted at one point with the line: "VISIT THE MAIN SCREEN TO UPGRADE YOUR CRAB." If that doesn't get you downloading this game, I'm not even going to bother telling you about the unlockable crabs. Every now and then a game comes along which is, in essence, a total wonder. King of Crabs is a dazzler. I cannot believe it exists. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. 15 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 34 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store