Squid Game has been one of 2021's most prolific and popular TV shows, becoming Netflix's most-watched show of all time. Not only did its criticism of capitalism and the disconnection of the wealthy classes resonate with viewers all over the world, but it's simply a thrilling TV show rich with compelling characters, and it's now a pop culture phenomenon much like Game of Thrones was a few years back. There were some mixed opinions about Squid Game's ending, but overall, the display of traditional kids' games in a deadly setting was so fun to watch that it spawned several copycats online, especially on Minecraft and Roblox.
One of these many imitations of Squid Game is the Steam game Crab Game. Battle royale games like Fortnite have been incredibly popular in the last several years, so it's not odd that players would want to want to be thrown into intriguing settings like the stages of Squid Game. However, Crab Game, while clearly inspired by the Netflix TV show, is more accessible as folks don't need to own Minecraft to have access to player-made levels, and though Roblox is completely free for its users, Steam's client can reach more players overall.
This has resulted in incredible popularity on Steam, where virtually anyone can upload their games for the masses. Throughout November, Crab Game has been just as popular in concurrent player numbers as Apex Legends and Grand Theft Auto 5 at times. It also became one of the most streamed games on Twitch with folks like Pokimane and xQc taking a whack at it.
How Crab Game Differs From Squid Game
The closer Crab Game is to Squid Game's overall design and direction, the more likely it is to get slapped with legal action. Because of that, it's more than a shot-for-shot remake of the TV show. There are some levels like the glass window game and Red Light, Green Light that are pulled from Squid Game, but there are also plenty of original minigames for players to face off in.
One is the floating rock level, which is a cross between the glass window game and Fall Guys' Hex-A-Gone stage, where rocks are either stable or will crumble under the player's feet. Another game is inspired by Mario Party, where players are presented with five buttons that may or may not cause them to explode immediately.
Crab Game supports up to 35 players, meaning it won't be as chaotic as 456 players going up against each other, 28 maps, and 9 game modes. But like any battle royale, the number of players will dwindle down as they get eliminated during rounds.
Overall, Crab Game is just a hilarious knockoff of Squid Game that uses its best and most chaotic battle royale levels but is also using the branding of the show to its advantage because many of its games are not actually from Squid Game at all. On the Steam page, it says, "Definitely not based on any online streaming pop culture Korean TV shows" to avoid any kind of legal trouble, but the irony is that using designs similar to Squid Game has caused it to soar to popularity. However, it's free to play, so the developer likely hasn't earned any direct profit from the IP.
At this point, it's highly likely that a proper video game based on Squid Game licensed by its creators will release at some point in the future. It's hard to say whether or not the hype around the TV show will last that long, so perhaps a collaboration with a battle royale like Fortnite would perform better and keep players away from copycats.
Squid Game is available to watch on Netflix.