Indie devs tired of cloning resort "to just making fun of the guy" who flipped their crab-tivating Soulslike game onto the app store

Another Crab's Treasure trailer screenshot showing a cartoon-like crab with wide, vein-y eyes and a painful expression
(Image credit: Aggro Crab)

The studio behind smash Soulslike hit Another Crab's Treasure has resorted to calling apparent copies of its game out on social media - and other tired indie developers are joining in.

Another Crab's Treasure, the crab-tastic Soulslike that made waves upon its recent release in April, is, unfortunately, one of many games suffering from mobile clones. As a result, devs like Aggro Crab, the indie team behind Another Crab's Treasure, are enacting their own justice online the old-fashioned way - by use of public humiliation.

Posting on Twitter, Aggro Crab explains that because "the app store doesn't take down fake games like this one," the studio is "resorting to just making fun of the guy" instead: "everyone point and laugh." Responses are amusingly filled with players posting pictures of doctored emojis pointing and laughing, while others include fans criticizing app stores for not taking action against dupe copies.

Aggro Crab isn't the only dev poking fun at the virtual thieves, though - Little Kitty, Big City creator Double Dagger Studio took to the replies with a screenshot of its own, showing copies of its cozy sim game on the app store. With highlights like "My Lost Kitty in Big City Town" and "My Little Cat Lost in Big City." One comment sums the situation up perfectly: "This is giving 'We have Little Kitty Big City at home' vibes."

If you want to support the real devs, Another Crab's Treasure is available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and the Nintendo Switch. Little Kitty, Big City can also be found on most of these platforms, not including PlayStation. For any fans of FromSoftware, Aggro Crab's Soulslike is worth a look - plus, you'll be supporting a great cause as purchases feed the dev "one microplastic per sale."

Little Kitty, Big City isn't all that different from Another Crab's Treasure - there's Dark Souls DNA in the cute cat game, too.

Anna Koselke
Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.