As a Soulslike game, Another Crab's Treasure shares a space with some pretty moody company: Dark Souls, Elden Ring, The Surge, Hollow Knight, Lies of P, and much more. The Soulslike genre is dominated by grimdark or otherwise incredibly depressing settings filled with hopeless people and hideous monsters, which makes it all the more satisfying to persevere despite the typically dire state of the world.

On the other hand, anyone who has played their share of Soulslike games can probably recall more than a few moments that had them laughing hysterically. Another Crab's Treasure leans into its sense of humor in some more obvious ways, and Game Rant recently spoke with Aggro Crab studio head/art director Nick Kaman and creative director/ narrative lead Caelan Pollock about this approach, among other things.

According to Pollock, FromSoftware's Dark Souls games are rife with deliberate silliness on the part of the developers alongside the accidental situational comedy. They believe that humor is key even in "serious" games like Dark Souls, and on the flipside, it's just as important to have serious and heartfelt moments in an outwardly silly game like Another Crab's Treasure.

There is a ton of humor tucked away in Dark Souls, particularly through item descriptions or character interactions. The description for rubbish in Dark Souls 3 reads, "Who in their right mind would carry this around?" as a fun jab at the player who must be carrying it around to be reading that.

Little needs to be said of Siegward of Catarina, whose onion-shaped armor is plainly ridiculous before even considering the funny circumstances in which players encounter him. Dark Souls games are funny between their most tense gameplay moments, and Pollock explained it as, I think it's also worth bringing up that classic Soulslike games - FromSoftware, Dark Souls games - are funny.

They are. The jokes are explicitly few and far between. We have a lot more written jokes and one-liners than FromSoftware, by a lot, but I will laugh my ass off playing Elden Ring. I don't think that is by any means an accident. Look at how they animate skeletons.

FromSoftware understands that skeletons are silly. They understand that being a little guy hit around by massive demons is a very silly slapstick experience. I think that element of lightheartedness is a part of FromSoftware games that often gets overlooked. I think that's an important counterbalance to the very depressing lore, for example.

There's also the general slapstick nature of Soulslike gameplay. Overlooking how it might be frustrating in the moment, it is frequently hilarious to witness a human-sized player being completely obliterated by a massive enemy's weapon or by an over-the-top wombo combo from Soul of Cinder followed by the "You Died" screen stating the obvious.

The games are also littered with sinister traps that one can imagine a developer laughing maniacally as they arranged them. While Another Crab's Treasure's developers recognize this and include plenty of their own gags in the game, it's important to bear in mind the distinction between funny games and comedy games.

Another Crab's Treasure is funny, but it has a serious story with a serious message. Comedy in this game, as it is in Dark Souls, is an important contrasting element that makes for more effective storytelling. When asked about their approach to humor, Pollock explained that, That's a large question because I feel like it is a very complicated thing to describe.

If I were to go into great detail on how we approach, let's say, humor and timing in our games, and the way I write things, I do think I could go on all day. What I will say is that our games are never just there to laugh at.

Both of these stories start from a core of somewhere very emotionally important to us, and, ultimately, they are full stories with a lot of heart to them. So I feel the humor is kind of included. They are funny games, but they're not 100% comedy games. Players may laugh at Siegward's silly armor or that he's gotten himself stuck in a well, but these laughs make that final touching encounter between him and the boss Yhorm the Giant a heart-wrenching moment.

Similarly, Another Crab's Treasure's story about survival amid a devastating climate disaster is enhanced by comedy but not defined by it. Aggro Crab's Another Crab's Treasure provides a maritime twist on the Souls-like formula. Using the trash around him as armor and weapons, Kril must travel across an underwater kingdom while fighting off all sorts of impressive threats.