Here are the best games to play in the crazy world of Crab Game if you like to compete.
Crab Game, which bills itself as Steam’s alternative to a certain other game about aquatic species, is a fun and surprising strategic game. With the game’s recent return to the top of the Steam charts, both casual observers and active players are wondering if, despite its completely silly setting, the game can be considered truly competitive.
There are many ways to do well in the Crab Game, which is good news for both strategic players and people who just want to play for fun. Many of the maps and games require a lot of luck to win, but players can also show off their skills through deception, quick reflexes, and working together.
The Floor Is Lava
| Skills | Strategy | Luck | Teamwork |
| Jumping, Spatial Reasoning | Low | High | Low |
In The Floor is Lava, you have to stand on small, rocky platforms that fall apart slowly as the game goes on. If you fall below the platforms, you will drown or be burned to death, depending on the map.
Even though luck is a big part of this Crab Game (which stones fall each time is random), being aware of your surroundings and planning ahead help a lot. There is also the chance for players to interact with each other by pushing, but this is hard to do well. Most people will do better if they just look at the platforms and jump when they need to.
Hat King
| Skills | Strategy | Luck | Teamwork |
| Speed, Stealth | Low | Medium | Little/None |
Hat King is basically a tag game where players try to hold on to a crown for as long as they can. When a player has a crown, they must either move around obstacles to avoid opponents without crowns or find a place to hide.
This game mode is similar to the Fall Guys tail tag events, but it is a little bit more fair. As in Fall Guys, players who spawn without the special object (in this case, a crown) are at a disadvantage. However, losing the crown at the very end of the game won’t hurt as much because the total time with the crown is what decides who wins.
Hide And Seek
| Skills | Strategy | Luck | Teamwork |
| Speed, Stealth | Medium | Medium | Little |
Crab Game’s version of Hide and Seek gives a dark spin to a well-known game. In this game, the players don’t just tap or poke the hiders; instead, they use knives to stab and cut their way to victory. To become a hider, a seeker must make a kill before the round’s time runs out. Hiders who are killed become hunters.
Like other asymmetric multiplayer games, the way roles are given out at the start is a little bit unfair. If all the players are about the same level of skill, hiders will have a clear advantage because they start out far from their opponents.
Stepping Stones
| Skills | Strategy | Luck | Teamwork |
| Probability, Patience, Negotiation | Low | High | Little |
Stepping Stones is a lot like the Squid Game, which is a bridge-crossing game. Players have to make a series of jumps in a certain amount of time. At each jump, you can choose between two platforms, one of which leads to the next pair and the other to instant death. In Stepping Stones, players can cross in any order, which is different from the Squid Game version.
Both the version from the hit show and Mr. Beast’s Squid Game should be watched and studied by people who like to plan ahead. Still, any player can win if they know some basic stats and talk with other players.
Block Drop
| Skills | Strategy | Luck | Teamwork |
| Spatial Reasoning, Speed | Low | Low | None |
Block Drop is for people who like to think ahead but also move quickly in the present. As soon as a player enters a checkerboard Block Drop arena for the first time, it will start to fill up with square, short rocks. If a player gets hit in the head by one, the game is over.
The strategy is to not get stuck between walls that form quickly. Instead, players should try to climb up “staircase”-shaped blocks. This is the kind of Crab Game that, once it’s been properly broken down, turns out to be more about luck than skill, but can still be played dozens of times under close scrutiny.
Tile Drive
| Skills | Strategy | Luck | Teamwork |
| Spatial Reasoning, Communication | Medium | Low | High |
Tile Drive is a game of controlling an area. It is played on maps with sections that can be taken over. When players touch things around the arena, they bring glory to their team. The last player from each team to touch a surface changes its color to that team’s color. By the end of the match, the gray environment has turned into a colorful place.
Tile Drive lets players show off some basic platforming skills, but the best skills to show off are spatial thinking and working as a team. Teams that are sneaky can have each member of their own team follow a different member of another team. This makes it almost impossible for the other team to move.
King Of The Hill
| Skills | Strategy | Luck | Teamwork |
| Jumping, Fighting | Medium | None | Medium |
In most versions of King of the Hill, the goal is to be on top of a structure. Once there, players won’t be able to just hang out. Instead, they’ll have to fight with baseball bats to stay on top of the hill for as long as possible.
Once players reach the top platform, they can use several well-known King of the Hill strategies. Those who are willing to work together can block off the different ways to get to the top. Since Slope Game gets rid of the players who were on the top platform for the least amount of time, this is a great way to get rid of slower players. Honest players can choose to stay on the hill and fight with others who have climbed, but they always risk getting hit in the back with a baseball bat by new players.
Race
| Skills | Strategy | Luck | Teamwork |
| Speed, Jumping, Sliding | Low | None | None |
On Race maps, players run and jump through a course of obstacles. Most of the time, these maps require a lot of skill. The best players use advanced jump and slide combos to move very quickly. To get the fastest times, you have to practice, and if you play it right, you can even skip some parts.
The game isn’t just about moving quickly; there are also brief moments of strategy when maps show different routes. When you’re near the back of the pack, taking a risky short cut can be the difference between making it to the next round and getting kicked out.
Bomb Tag
| Skills | Strategy | Luck | Teamwork |
| Spatial Reasoning, Speed, Jumping | High | Medium | Low |
Bomb Tag is a game mode that is similar to Tag in that it requires the player to think quickly and quickly switch between chasing and escaping other players. In Bomb Tag, you play a few short rounds of tag, and the player who is “it” is taken out with a loud explosion.
Even though adding new bombs all the time makes the game more random (no one wants to be the player who starts with the bomb), it also makes the game more strategic. In Tag, the best strategy is to be in the corner farthest from the other players. In Bomb Tag, the best strategy is to keep a safe distance from other players in case they are the next bomb holder. If the bomb spawns on a player who is too far away from the rest of the group, that player might not have time to give it to another player.
Lights Out
| Skills | Strategy | Luck | Teamwork |
| Speed, Jumping, Fighting | High | Medium | High |
At first, the beginning of Lights Out looks like the beginning of any other game, at least until the weapons come out. In Lights Out, players can go on a free-for-all killing spree that lasts for a certain amount of time or stay out of the fights and watch others fight.
If a player doesn’t spawn near a good weapon, the game can be a little bit random. But the game has a lot of strategic depth because you have to know when to fight and when to run. The fact that you can make a peace pact with other players adds even more layers of strategy to the game.
Crab Game can be played on PC right now.
