Speedrunners are beating this crab soulslike in under an hour

Speedrunners have been making huge strides this past week in Another Crab’s Treasure, delivering some shucking strats to beat the entire game in under an hour.

What’s more incredible is that this time, it’s being completed in any percent category, which doesn’t allow speedrunners to equip the gun to help with most bosses. So, how on earth are they doing it?

If you have played this crab soulslike before or have run a speedrun before, then the answer is pretty obvious—glitches and reaching places you aren’t meant to be able to reach.

Watching parts of the speedrun as someone who completely played the game during launch, most of the tech being used makes sense. Using the Tennis Ball shell to use its speed boost to rush through stages and skip enemies is perfectly understandable to get between bosses. Still, I never could have anticipated some of the glitches being used.

Using the charge attack and jumping to give Kril a speed boost that lets him skip entire sections, glitches that completely go over parts of the map and skip sections, and specific shell pickups to deal massive damage despite never getting a weapon upgrade are all incredible to watch.

What is even more incredible is that this game has only been out for a week and seems to be completely broken in some areas. Flotsam Vale is completely skippable through timed jumps and making use of buggy terrain, and anyone who has played Another Crab’s Treasure will agree it’s the most annoying and confusing section to walk around, so I wish I knew about these skips for casual play.

It’s still early days, though, and I can’t wait to see what speedrunners find next.