I have other reviews to do! I can’t be addicted to this game. If I keep telling myself that, it might come true.
Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite from developer Odd Dreams Digital is a cross between SPORE and any other roguelite. The entire point of the game is to evolve through defeating enemies and eating their leftovers to gain new abilities. The evolution process is the driving point of the gameplay, as players must select how they are going to evolve, which have their own pros and cons, and proceed to form into that creature of choice. Picture a branching narrative, but with visual evolution choices and stat building. You cannot imagine the type of addictiveness this game creates.
Is there anything wrong with this title? No. I tried to be cynical. I tried to tap into my inner professor, where nothing is perfect, but, alas, this game checked all the boxes. And that is before the additional challenge mode, the unlockables to expand the different types of creatures the player can evolve from, and all the unique enemies and random battles that force the evolutionary process. This game is out of this world good.
Again, the entire reason why this game is addictive is from its core gameplay element of evolution. The folks at Odd Dreams Digital picked a good core to surround the rest of the gameplay with, as the idea of character evolution, which includes visuals and stats, has a plethora of possibilities when returning to the game. The replayability of this title is through the roof.
Anyway, the player will begin as a single-cell organism that is trying to make its way through a new world. The player must take down other creatures around it, feed on their meat, and build a blue bar stat at the bottom of the screen. Once that bar is full, the player will be given three evolution options to choose from. Those choices could make their creature faster or stronger, or allow it to ingest poison at a lower damage rate. It could also be growing antlers, building muscles, gaining more agility, or simply becoming a scaly creature that is more protected during fights. This game will throw a lot of fights with common enemies at the player.
As useful and as fun as fighting common enemies can get, and there are enough of them to keep it interesting, with improved stats, the game would certainly grow boring, so it throws in a few wrenches to make it interesting. The game has a timer on the top of the screen that features various icons. Each icon represents a boss fight. When the red bar on the timer gets to a boss, a boss fight will commence. This does a few things.
Firstly, the timer changes up the enemies and introduces a new brutal enemy to fight. Boss fights are creative, crazy, and unique in their execution. For example, the first big boss you might run into is a spikey-shelled elephant that enjoys spinning around and causing brutal chaos. Another enemy might be a sea monster that floods the area and forces the player’s character to navigate a watery land that may or may not be to their advantage. Regardless of the boss, the fights are a step up from the common enemies, and they make the game a bit more engaging, as well as a bit more thoughtful.
That thoughtful part comes in the form of having to prepare for the boss fight and maybe lean toward some evolutionary choices that fall in line with the boss that the player is about to take on. The icons on that timer bar will display who the bosses are and in what order they are arriving, which means that the player can craft their evolution toward said future fight. Depending on how frisky the player wants to be in the fight is determined by those choices as well. Now, I should also throw in that the player doesn’t have to craft their creature to the style of the boss. It simply makes the fight easier if they do, but for a real challenge, the player doesn’t have to do it.
In addition to this methodical gameplay design, the existence of the boss fight also means that the player has a finite amount of time to evolve. This puts some urgency in the process, as taking down more common enemies and evolving quicker means a better chance at the boss fight. This creates some push and motivation for the player to quickly upgrade their character before they get trapped with the boss. That’s devilishly good design and also plays back into the replayability of this game, as a defeat will just mean the player will probably want to revisit quickly and do better in the evolutionary process.
Staying with that evolution process, and bringing it back full circle, as the stats are acquired, and the character is built and evolved, the visual character model will begin to change. This might be my second favorite part of the game, as it creates a world of possibilities with how cool or silly (or both) the character can evolve into. Seeing a creature with a shell, a six-pack, and two legs is hilarious.
Beyond just visuals, the gameplay’s evolution process also affects what lands the player’s character can traverse. There are green areas, desert lands, water worlds, and a very cold snow land. The gameplay leans on the evolution choices to determine the best climate for the player to survive in. For example, having fur and being resistant to cold means that the player can stay longer in the snow land. Having scales and/or a shell means that the player can survive better in the desert area. Leaning one way or another, or multiple ways, dictates how long a player can be in a specific area of the map, and what creatures the player’s character can feed upon. It’s another factor that plays off the core gameplay element of evolution and only stands to keep the gameplay fresh.
All the above combined make for one addictive adventure that is replayable and entertaining as hell. Again, it’s a perfect game in my opinion that has a diverse number of directions the player can take it. It’s well-designed and executed, and a great example of taking a simple concept and making it engaging and interesting to its very core.
Anyway, let’s wrap up this review. I don’t like to be too glow-y about games. It ruins my rep as a hard-ass critic.
Conclusion
Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite from developer Odd Dreams Digital is a marvel to behold. It’s fun, enormous in the number of directions the player can take the gameplay, and it’s easily replayable. It’s one of my top 10 games of 2026 so far.