There is a specific, primal joy in gathering three of your best friends, hopping onto a giant, mechanical arthropod, and firing a cannonball into a jar-headed enemy fortress while screaming about reload times. This is the niche that DuneCrawl, the latest release from indie developer Alientrap, seeks to fill.
Released on January 5, 2026, DuneCrawl pitches itself as an open-world action-adventure that feels like a fever dream combination of Sea of Thieves, Castle Crashers, and the giant mechanical spider form of Kenneth Branagh from the 1999 Wild Wild West movie. It is a game about teamwork, ballistics, and glorious crustaceans. After spending a week traversing the sun-scorched dunes, upgrading my crab, and accidentally launching my co-op partners into the stratosphere, I’m ready to deliver the verdict on this sandy escapade.
The Mobile Fortress: Life on the Crab
The heart and soul of DuneCrawl is the Crawler itself. In many open-world games, your vehicle is just a means to get from Point A to Point B. Here, the vehicle is your home, your weapon, and your primary responsibility.
The game is set in the land of Norwyn—or rather, a sandy expanse populated by the “Polloi” pilgrims fighting against the “Ceramicist’s” invasion. You pilot a massive crab festooned with black powder cannons. The mechanics of operating this beast are intentionally manual and tactile, designed to foster cooperation (or chaos). One player drives, navigating the clunky legs over dunes and around obstacles. Others must manually load cannonballs, aim the guns, repair damaged legs when things get hairy, and repel boarders.
When it clicks, it’s magical. Rolling up to an enemy fortress, drifting the crab sideways to present a broadside, and unleashing a volley of fire feels incredible. The physics engine adds a layer of slapstick comedy to the proceedings; you can load yourself (or a friend) into a cannon and fire them at the enemy walls for a daring boarding action. As one Steam reviewer perfectly summarized: “Shoot friend out of barrel at bad guys, Friend has dodge explosion, no further comment needed.”
Swashbuckling in the Sand
While the crab is the star, much of the gameplay involves disembarking to explore oasis islands and delve into dungeons. This is where the game shifts from a vehicle sim to a top-down, hack-and-slash adventure reminiscent of Castle Crashers or a simplified Diablo.
You have access to a variety of weapons—swords, hammers, bows, and even “Buzzookas.” The combat is simple but punchy. You aren’t just mashing buttons; you are utilizing the environment. There are bomb flowers to throw, beehives to shoot down onto enemies, and environmental hazards to exploit.
The variety of locomotion on foot is also surprisingly robust. Aside from your main crab, you can find and ride smaller bug mounts. Multi-saddle beetles allow your squad to ride together, while skittering nymphs offer high-speed scouting options. These moments break up the pacing nicely, ensuring you aren’t just stuck in the crab’s cockpit for the entire 6-to-10-hour runtime.
The Co-Op Experience vs. The Solo Struggle
DuneCrawl is unapologetically designed for multiplayer. It supports up to four players in both local and online co-op, and this is undeniably the best way to play. The chaos of shouting instructions—”Repair the left leg!”, “I need ammo!” “Stop steering us into the rocks!”—creates that perfect party game atmosphere. It balances the “open world combat/exploration of sailing a giant crab as a crew with the excitement of disembarking to pillage and plunder.”
However, for the solo gamer, the experience is mixed. The game provides a ghostly AI companion to help manage the ship systems, which makes the game playable, but it lacks the soul of the multiplayer experience. Solo play feels harder and significantly lonelier. As one reviewer noted, the companion makes it easier, “but makes the game feel like you shouldn’t be playing it solo even though you totally can.” If you are picking this up, try to convince at least one friend to join you; the fun factor increases exponentially with each additional human player.
A World of Jars and Sand
Visually, DuneCrawl is a treat. The art style is stylized, colorful, and “cute,” masking the violence of crushing bugs and exploding ceramic soldiers. The world is vibrant, with beautiful sunsets casting long shadows over the dunes and distinctive character designs that give the Polloi pilgrims plenty of personality.
The audio design also deserves a nod. The soundtrack is catchy and adventurous, perfectly fitting the tone of a grand desert expedition. The crunch of the crab’s legs on the sand and the booming report of the cannons provide excellent auditory feedback.
However, the world design is where the game faces its valid criticisms. The map, while open, can feel cluttered. The crab is massive, yet the environment is often littered with rock towers and tight geometries that make navigation a chore rather than a joy. “The size of the world doesn’t seem made for the crab,” one player critiqued. “It feels like every 5 steps I am going around a rock tower.”
Furthermore, the world can feel a bit static. Once you clear an enemy base or defeat a boss, it stays defeated. In a short game, this is fine, but it limits the replayability. A dynamic system in which enemies retake islands would add a layer of longevity that is currently missing.
The Economy of War
One strange design choice lies in the game’s economy. Ammunition for your personal weapons is surprisingly expensive compared to the rate at which you earn money. This seems designed to force players to scavenge and use whatever weapons they find in the field rather than sticking to a specific “build.”
While this adds a survivalist element, it can be frustrating for players who just want to use their favorite Acid Harpoon. You are often rich in weapons but poor in cash, leading to a confusing economic loop where you constantly swap gear not out of desire but out of necessity.
Performance and Steam Deck
On the technical front, DuneCrawl is solid. It is marked as Verified on the Steam Deck, and it runs beautifully on the handheld. The pick-up-and-play nature of the missions makes it ideal for portable sessions. On PC, the game is relatively lightweight and accessible to a wide range of hardware configurations. While there are reports of minor “lag kinks” in online play, recent patches (including the Campaign Update 1.02 released today) seem to be smoothing out the experience rapidly.
DuneCrawl is a hidden gem that radiates charm and chaotic fun. It is a “short, well-polished game” that respects your time, offering a tight 6-10 hour campaign that doesn’t overstay its welcome. While it has its flaws—a somewhat cramped world, a weird economy, and a lackluster solo mode—the highs of the co-op experience are dizzying.
It captures that specific feeling of “boys’ night” gaming, where the objective is secondary to the hilarity of the physics engine and the joy of operating a giant machine together. It is a treasure for couch co-op enthusiasts and a solid recommendation for anyone looking for a break from the 100-hour RPG grind.
| The Good | The Bad |
| Co-Op Chaos: One of the best cooperative experiences of the year; managing the crab together is hilarious and rewarding. | Solo Experience: While playable with AI, it loses the magic and feels lonely and unbalanced. |
| The Crab: A unique vehicle mechanic that combines driving, shooting, and maintenance into a cohesive loop. | Cramped World: The map feels too cluttered for the size of the crab, making navigation tedious at times. |
| Art Style: Beautiful, stylized 3D graphics that give the game a distinct “comfy” yet action-packed vibe. | Static World: Enemies don’t retake bases, reducing replayability after the short campaign. |
| Physics Fun: Launching players out of cannons and destructible environments never gets old. | Cramped World: The map feels too cluttered for the crab’s size, making navigation tedious at times. |
| Steam Deck Verified: Runs perfectly on handhelds, making it a great travel game. | Economy: Ammo costs are too high, forcing players to swap weapons, which hinders playstyle customization. |
DuneCrawl: DuneCrawl is a delightful, chaotic, and visually distinct co-op adventure that proves giant crabs are the ultimate vehicle. While it suffers from some world-scaling issues and a static map, the core loop of crewing a crustacean fortress with friends is undeniably fun. It’s a "solid" 8/10 experience with friends, but perhaps a 6/10 if you are crawling alone. – Obsidian