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These Everything is Crab guides cover evolution paths and Affinities, using Mutagen and choosing an early build. Combine 125+ evolutions in an evolution roguelite. Start with the beginner guide on your first run; returning players can use the build and evolution guides.
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What is Everything is Crab?
An evolution roguelite from Odd Dreams Digital. Control Darwin, eat and evolve through runs of roughly 20 minutes. The game advertises 125+ abilities and four biomes, with different evolution directions and a day/night cycle. Its carcinisation theme concerns crab-like convergent evolution; comparisons with Vampire Survivors and Brotato describe the genre rather than a direct series connection.
🦀 An approachable starting direction
Imposing (health and durability)
Build around health and durability while learning the evolution choices. Water and Lightning are not Affinity names in the checked material; use the Affinity labels shown in your Codex.
🧬 Early priorities
Choose a main Affinity
A clear main direction makes your choices easier to evaluate. Add a supporting Affinity when it addresses a weakness; mixing Affinities is not an automatic loss.
🏆 Preparing for a boss
Check your attack reach
Look at the range and conditions of your available attacks before a boss. Check the actual evolution descriptions rather than assuming that an unverified move name is required. Combine adequate reach with a coherent main build.
Find your next evolution, build or boss guide
Everything is Crab guide
Choose a clear build direction and inspect attack reach before the encounter. The old Water Affinity and fixed Wave 5 requirement were not verified.
Everything is Crab builds
Compare health-focused Imposing, ability-focused Trickster and ally-focused Gregarious. Water and Lightning are not confirmed Affinity labels in the checked material.
Unsure which evolution to choose
Inspect what is causing the problem: survival when health keeps falling, effective attacks when animals take too long, or reach when a boss is hard to approach. Choose an effect that addresses that gap.
Checks before you get stuck
- ・Opening: choose a useful direction and compare Mutagen choices; the old Wave 1–3 schedule is unchecked
- ・Before the boss: inspect attack reach and survival; no fixed Wave 4–5 threshold is established
- ・Later: add support for a specific gap; a compulsory Wave 6 defense/area-only rule is unverified
Saved unlock-rate data from Steam Community Stats. The share of Steam players who earned each achievement (40 achievements in the snapshot; five lowest and five highest rates shown).
Really?
0.1%Finalise all Challenges (beat them with all Genetics)
Winnest
0.1%Win 200 Pressure and/or Challenge runs
Complete
0.1%Complete Pressure 20 with all Genetics
Gilded
0.2%Finalise a Challenge (beat it with all Genetics)
Zen
0.3%Beat a run without dealing nor taking any damage
Weeeee back!
99.1%Complete the tutorial
Selective Pressure 1
88.5%Win a Pressure 1 run
Ole!
67%Hit a Crabtaur while it is charging
I wanna be the very best
62.2%Defeat a Shiny animal
Brute
59.2%Deal 20000 damage in a single run
Source: Steam Community Stats (snapshot: 2026-08-14)
Very Positive
score
copies sold
Historical launch reception: the publisher reported more than 100,000 sales and a 90% Steam review score within 48 hours. Current reviews may differ.
🧬 125+ evolutions
Your body changes as you evolve, rather than simply equipping a different weapon. Evolution choices affect both your abilities and appearance. The old Water/Lightning visual descriptions were not verified and are not treated as named evolution paths.
🌍 Four biomes and a day/night cycle
Grass, sand, snow and water create different environmental challenges, while the day/night cycle changes the conditions around you. Exploration is part of the survival loop, alongside building your creature.
🦀 Carcinisation
The game takes its name from carcinisation: convergent evolution in which non-crab crustaceans independently develop a crab-like body. Its Carcinisation choices change your creature, but the game’s joke should not be read as a claim that all organisms really become crabs.
👥 Charmed allies (legacy cap: 12, unchecked)
Gregarious choices support fighting with Charmed allies. Leading a group offers a different approach from strengthening only your own attacks. The old limit of 12 allies has not been verified for the current version.
Problem: Dying quickly to a boss (old Wave 5/10/15 labels unchecked)
Possible cause: Your attacks may not reach safely
Action: Read the range and targeting of the attacks you actually have. No particular unverified move is a compulsory boss requirement.
Problem: Struggling with ordinary enemies in the middle of a run
Possible cause: Your choices may not be supporting the same goal
Action: Recheck the main direction of your build and finish useful upgrades before adding another role. The old fixed Wave 6 deadline is unverified.
Problem: Rarely getting useful evolutions
Possible cause: You may be saving Mutagen without using its available choices
Action: Check the current Mutagen costs and use it when it improves a poor choice. The old claim that one or two kills always replenish it is unverified.
Problem: Getting surrounded at night
Possible cause: You may not be accounting for the day/night change
Action: Plan a route through terrain you can handle before night falls. Avoid unnecessary long moves into an unfamiliar biome when visibility is poor.
Problem: Gregarious choices are not producing allies
Possible cause: The current Charm conditions may not be met
Action: Read the Charm chance tooltip and the target’s eligibility. Official 1.1 notes include passive friendship prompts and Charm chances for ordinary animals and Alphas, so the old blanket exclusion of elites is incorrect.
Gregarious
(Gregarious) Allies and cooperationAn ally-focused direction built around Charm. The old 12-ally cap and speedrunner-adoption claim are unverified; 12 simultaneous allies is an achievement target, not proof of a cap.
Imposing
(Imposing) Durability and SizeA health-and-Size direction. Body Slam is one build concept, but the old universally strongest community ranking has not been measured or independently verified.
Predator
(Predator) Attacks and movementAn offensive physical direction. Efficiently defeating suitable animals can support progression, but an unlimited-leveling guarantee and instant kills are unverified.
Prey
(Prey) Evasion and movementAn evasion-focused direction. Inspect Smol, movement and feeding effects individually rather than assuming a universal combination.
Trickster
(Trickster) Range and Ability damageAn ability-focused direction that can include ranged or damage-over-time choices. Read each evolution’s effects rather than assuming every listed ability applies poison or parasitism.
Carcinisation
(Carcinisation) Special AffinityCarcinisation is the game’s special crab-like evolution direction. The old one-point-per-unique-choice rule and cap of seven are not certified; the saved Steam achievement requires reaching Carcinisation 10 in a run. Check current tradeoffs in the Codex.
Grass
(Grassy)
Inspect terrain, trees and available space. The old universal boss-fight recommendation is editorial rather than a compulsory rule.
Risk: LowSand
(Desert)
Inspect current adaptation and environmental effects. The old Desert Oasis regeneration bonus is unverified.
Risk: MediumSnow
(Frozen Tundra)
Inspect cold adaptation and the current environmental effect rather than assuming a fixed damage rule.
Risk: MediumWater
(Ocean)
Inspect Water movement and the actual Aquaconda encounter. The old guaranteed arena transformation is unverified.
Risk: High- 🛡️ Consider Imposing first: Health and Plating can support a durable start. Body Slam is a build option, not a verified universal best choice or a guaranteed clear.
- 🌳 Use terrain in boss fights: Watch how a boss interacts with trees and other obstacles. Crabtaur and Shellephant require different responses; do not assume identical collision damage.
- 🔄 Using Mutagen: Compare the current reroll and upgrade costs. The old fixed costs of 1 and 10 points are retained only as unchecked historical values.
- 🧬 Watch your Affinity choices: Keep a coherent direction, but read the current Codex for weighting. A guaranteed change after two or three selections has not been verified.
- 🔍 Explore points of interest: Look for the map’s points of interest. The old Pioneer requirement of seven discoveries and +50% appearance rate has not been verified.
Everything is Crab FAQ
G PowerPlay
G305 LIGHTSPEED
REALFORCE R3S
Retro Game Chronicle
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Art of Balatro
HORI mini controller for Switch
eShop ¥5000 — Rakuten
Game Music Collection
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Steam Deck OLED
A handheld PC gaming system, suited to indie games such as Balatro and Vampire Survivors.
Steam ¥3,000
HyperX Pulsefire Mat XL
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This week in the community
Guide videos
Opens YouTube, an external website.
Related games
- → Brotato Another wave-based arena survivor
- → Vampire Crawlers (Japanese) A related game from the Vampire Survivors series
- → Dungeon Clawler A claw-machine deckbuilder for players who enjoy item combinations
Steam Deck OLED
A handheld PC gaming system, suited to indie games such as Balatro and Vampire Survivors.
Steam ¥1,000
G640r mouse pad
G PRO X SUPERLIGHT 2
G PRO X 60
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