To Arms! Category: general information
It's a War, and We are Crab
What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

Overview

  • Crab War is a mobile game in the incremental and tapper style.
  • It has idle components but is not considered an idle game.
  • Incremental in that your damage, enemy health, and gold get progressively higher and exponential the further you progress.
  • Tapper in that your interaction with the game is only by tapping on your screen.
  • There is no end to the game, nor is there a way to "win" -- you can play forever.
  • There are Tournaments as well as a mini-game Land of Reptiles to play.
  • Every month the Jade Scarab Event is available for prizes and more power to your cast.

Premise

As the introductory cut-scene will explain, you control a cast of infinite crabs whose homeland has been overrun by "reptiles". Forced to burrow underground to escape being eaten, your crabs have discovered powerful radiation from crystals located underground. Having grown stronger, they are ready to fight their way up the riverbed to defeat the reptiles and take back their home.

A Cast of Crabs? Is this a stage show?

Animal groups have different names. Herd of cows, flock of birds, etc. A group of crabs is called a cast - so that's what we call them here at the Academy.

Basic Gameplay

The game will walk you through tutorial steps when you first play, but in brief:
  • You tap to release your crabs.
  • You defeat "reptiles" for their gold and to advance down the riverbed.
  • Every 10 meters is a "boss" that is harder to defeat but drops more gold.
  • You purchase levels for your crabs, as well as unlock Queens and special Abilities.
  • Queens auto-spawn every 4 seconds. You do not need to tap for them to appear.
  • Your special Abilities will enhance your gameplay.
  • As you play you earn DNA to purchase Mutations to grow stronger.
  • Participating in Tournaments will earn you Gene Points and Gems to grow even stronger.
  • When you've gone as far as you can, you reset back to the beginning in a process called Ecdysis. You grow stronger with each reset.

Daily Reward

  • Once a day, the Daily Boss, aka Wildebeast will become available to spawn.
  • You fight him with Fireflies instead of crabs.
  • If you fail to kill him you can watch an ad to continue, or wait 30 minutes and try again.
  • He rewards you with pearls or gems on a 7 day cycle.
  • If you miss a day, you do not reset back to Day 1 so you can get the good stuff (the gems) eventually.

Early Game Missions

There are 3 missions to "collect Artifacts" that are supposed to help your crabs. The first two are intended to happen before your first Ecdysis, so beginners can get a head start.
  • Mission 1: Complete simple tasks, earn a Golden Ray (lots of gold).
    • Advance 100 Meters
    • Use 5 Abilities
    • Upgrade Crabs to Level 200
    • Spawn 3 Queens
    • Tap 10 Butterflies
  • Mission 2: Complete simple tasks, earn a free Burrower Crab that activates immediately (moves you 100m forward).
    • Advance 200 Meters
    • Upgrade Crabs to Level 470
    • Tap 15 Butterflies
    • Use 10 Abilities
    • Kill 200 Reptiles
  • Mission 3: Complete simple tasks, earn the Baby AppX Crab.
    • Ecdysis 1 Time
    • Enter Land of Reptiles 10 Times
    • Tap 30 Butterflies
    • Use 30 Abilities
    • Kill 500 Reptiles

Sounds Easy

The game itself is pretty simple, but there are a lot of things to learn about it. But that's why you came here, right?

Any Tips?

There are tips throughout the Library here. There are Worksheets that can help you explore various aspects of the game. After you register your cast of crabs, those same worksheets can offer tailored advice based on the information you enter. There is also tons of information archived on Reddit that may not have found its way to the Academy. But mostly, it's a game, so enjoy yourself. Come on Discord and chat with us!