Going Under
Going Under is a satirical dungeon crawler about exploring the cursed ruins of failed tech startups. As an unpaid intern in the dystopian city of Neo-Cascadia, you’ll wield office junk as weaponry as you make your way through the offbeat procedural dungeons beneath your company campus. The Future is Wack Failed businesses no longer just cease to exist–they sink beneath the earth, and their employees are cursed to wander the halls for eternity as monsters. It’s your duty to put these monsters out of their misery and repossess their assets–so that your boss can afford a new car, or something. Not All Heroes Get Paychecks Battle through the remains of failed startups themed off of gig workers, dating sites, and cryptocurrency. Uncover the true motives of your employer, a carbonated drink startup known as Fizzle, and their parent company, a subscription box manufacturer with an army of helpful shipping drones. Make friends with your co-workers! Hire a freelance goblin! Date a slime! Invest in crypto! Set a rideshare on fire! Fight Flexibly In the dungeons of Going Under, almost everything can be used as a weapon, from laptops to brooms to body pillows. Proper weapons can be found as well, but even they can break at a moment’s notice if you aren’t careful. Playing cautiously and picking the right weapon for the situation are musts if you intend on surviving your internship.
Steam User 52
I've always felt a little guilty for not writing a review of Going Under, Aggro Crab’s first game, as it's an experience that never really left my thoughts, even three years out from my initial playthrough. This is in part due to the great soundtrack that I still listen to in its entirety from time to time, but also because the game just left that big of an impression on me. Every facet of Going Under is exceptional for such a small team, and even though they seem to hate to hear it, it's worth repeating that it still hasn't made quite the splash it deserved. So in order to rectify that in a small way, this review will serve double duty for both games, copy and pasted on both Going Under and Another Crab’s Treasure (their second endeavor), as both games hit a lot of the same highs, which I will be going into vague detail on in order for the review to make sense for both. So if anything I say in this review catches your attention just know that there is a whole other video game that this all applies to.
I think Aggro Crab’s biggest strength is their commitment to a core premise or concept. When they set their mind to an idea, whether that be corporate culture or environmentalism, then they really go all out incorporating it into every possible nook and cranny of the game. It's a bit hard to describe just how good they are at this, even if I were to use specific examples from either game, because part of the magic is experiencing it for yourself. It's a joy to play through a game where every corner you round will likely hold a cleverly gamified concept, a little joke or a creative use of the environment to solidify the theme. Most good games will have you saying “Oh, that's cool” every once in a while, but Aggro Crab somehow manages to have you thinking this near constantly. Whether it be something in the background, the way a character talks or acts, a translation of real life concepts into gameplay mechanics, a reference “slyly” worked into the fabric of the game as to not be grating, the way the music perfectly matches whatever is going on, as well as many more granular examples I can't get into without spoiling. Aggro Crab’s games feel like complete packages, ones that have no loose ends, where every single part of the medium is used to its fullest.
This very much includes the narratives of both games too. Don't be fooled by the art styles and the constant stream of jokes, these games have interesting stories to tell and complex ideas to explore. What might seem like obvious messaging gives way for more nuanced and unique takes on the topics. As previously mentioned, I've been thinking about Going Under and it's ending for three years now, and I can only imagine that Another Crab’s Treasure will have a similar lifespan in my head. The “worst” thing I can say about these games is they are extremely topical, and one day they might not age super well, though if that means we stopped dumping trash in the ocean and that it's not living heck/shell to work for a big corporation then I (and I'm assuming them) will count that as a net positive.
If either game's store description sounds enticing to you, then I implore you to pick it up (then try the other one while you're at it). Aggro Crab makes high quality stuff, and even though their second game just came out, I already can't wait for what they're cooking up next.
Steam User 42
I'm terrible at writing reviews, but I want to put my two cents into Steam's magic innards so this game gets recommended to more people. Seriously: play this. If you don't want to spend a lot of money on it, don't worry: I got it for 5 dollars when it was on sale. This is an amazing game with a strong art style, an engaging narrative (I've only played for 4 hours at the time of writing and I'm already hooked), fun---not the best in the world, but still pretty good---gameplay, and a great sense of humor. Don't really know how to conclude this; if you've read this far into my word vomit, you're cute :3
Steam User 82
theres a lesbian in this game
Steam User 23
Earned it's spot amongst my favourite roguelikes. Laid-back, funny, cool colorful art style, engaging, overall a great capitalism parody that seems to have gone unnoticed by many. Good for beginners, as it can be rather forgiving. That being said, combat may take some time to get used to. Quite clumsy at times honestly.
Steam User 32
i swear this is the most underrated indie game ever
please make a fandom around this game
im obsessed
please
PLEASE
BUY THE GAME. PLAY THE GAME. I KNOW YOUR READING THIS. BUY THE GAME NOW NOW DO IT-
Steam User 22
Fun rogue-like. Kudos for Assist options which reduce the difficulty, even with those the final boss battle is quite challenging. Narrative and theme are this game's strongest suite, there's a lot of amusing jabs at start-up culture, capitalism etc.
Steam User 16
When its easy to tell people put passion into a game, you did it right at least somewhere.