Whenever I think roguelike exhaustion has set in, another game comes along to drag me back into the endless grind. This time it’s Everything is Crab, an action roguelike that plays fast and loose with the theory of evolution—instead of evolving over millions of years, all you need to do is enjoy a big meal and you’ll sprout antlers, tentacles or wings.
Since it launched last month, Everything is Crab has become part of my nightly routine. I take the dog out for a walk, brush my teeth, pretend I’m going to bed, and then I spend the next 2 hours on my Steam Deck making delightful new freaks. And it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to escape its clutches any time soon, as a meaty update has just dropped.
Evolution 1.1 coincides with the news that Everything is Crab hit the 500,000 sales milestone—a very respectable number that really should be higher, because this crabby roguelike is extremely good.
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So! The update! There’s plenty to sift through, including a new evolution, Tracker, which will allow you to “track specific targets and get varied bonuses against them”. It’s a level 3 evolution with the predator affinity, and there are other evolutions and specialisations that apply the tracked effect, turning you into the ultimate hunter. Those awful bee-dogs won’t know what’s hit them.
You’ll also be able to play around with a new ultimate, Lick Wounds, so you can self heal instead of frantically running around looking for healing food. Thank god. I have died so many times while trying to find sparkly morsels to munch on.
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New specialisations have been added to Stoner, Leech and Spur, and you can skip specialisations instead and get 10 mutagen points in return.
It’ll also be easier to unlock new evolutions, and ones that were locked behind challenge progression can be obtained by completing pressure levels for the first time. So, for instance, you’ll be able to unlock the new Lick Wounds ultimate by beating pressure 3, and Tracker will unlock after beating pressure 7.
Expect new cosmetics, too, which can be unlocked by completing challenges. The world itself has also received a wee makeover, “with additional foliage, trees, obstacles and other map elements sprouting up to make the world feel more alive”.
On top of all that, there’s a whole bunch of balance and quality of life tweaks, along with Twitch integration, changes to the Charm ability and new accessibility options. You can check out all the changes in the patch notes.
More additions are on their way, too, with another big update planned for late summer, featuring a “community-designed” addition and more free cosmetics. Autumn, meanwhile, will see the arrival of some premium DLC, along with more freebies.
