Couch Co-Op Returns in DuneCrawl, Now on Steam
DuneCrawl is one of 2026’s newest trending games on Steam. The game is Steam Deck Verified and has over 275 Steam reviews. Released on Jan. 5, DuneCrawl is a co-op adventure game where players explore the wastelands on a giant crab’s back.
The game is continuing a 2025 trend of co-op games being best played with friends. In this game, you can control a giant crab base. You’re matched with up to three friends who become mouse-people, wandering a fantasy desert and wasteland. The game’s artstyle is what makes the game worth it.
What Makes DuneCrawl Cool?
DuneCrawl’s selling point is the giant crab that helps players traverse the wasteland. The huge crabs serve as a sort of ship that allows you to reload cannons, repair joints, and board other crabs throughout crab-versus-crab battles. Players are essentially anthropomorphic mouse-pirates, except the game’s setting is full of sand rather than water.
The game’s Steam description reads that, in addition to crabs, players can ride multi-saddle Beetles, zip around on Nymphs, or smash through the opposition with armored Scorpions and Ball Bugs. Players also have the ability to fight on two feet.
The game’s description reads, “Help your fellow Polloi fight off the Vassal invaders with a wide array of hand weapons and items, or make use of the deadly local wildlife with Bomb Flowers, Beehives, and Spider Eggs!”
What Do Players Think?
Some reviewers highlight the lack of content and the high price. The game is currently 15% off and is $17. The game’s retail price is $20. One reviewer said that the game has “rudimentary” boss fights, but recommends it with caution. The game has controller support for PlayStation and Xbox controllers, a single-player mode, online co-op, LAN co-op, and shared/split-screen co-op. Split-screen co-op means you can play with someone offline, as long as you have enough controllers to play the game.
DuneCrawl’s atmosphere is comforting and very immersive, writes another reviewer. The reviewer adds that the baseline gameplay is “sufficiently fun,” and the quests and underground puzzles are “pretty solid.” They conclude their review by calling the game a “wee gem” with “a lovely shine to it.”
Another Steam user recommended the game, stating the following:
“Lots of reviews saying this game is buggy, I have personally only experienced issues with one quest, and getting stuck in a few spots. However there is a built-in respawn button when you get stuck, and the developer is quickly patching bugs and making fixes.
“This game is great fun with friends, I play with a group of 3 of us, and it’s fun finding new talismans and armors to give each of us a role in our group. You can’t say that launching yourself out of a cannon that is on top of a crab isn’t fun.
“TLDR; People are quick to whine about the most minuscule bugs, but this game is tons of fun with friends and has more depth than at first glance.”
The Studio Behind DuneCrawl
Canadian game studio Alientrap, founded in Toronto in 2009, developed and published DuneCrawl. The game was funded by Ontario Creates, a Canadian agency dedicated to promoting economic development, investment, and collaboration with Ontario’s creative industries. This includes music, books, magazines, films, television sectors, and interactive digital media sectors from both Canada and overseas.
Alientrap also developed and published games such as Modbox, Nexuiz, Wytchwood, GUNHEAD, Apotheon, Apotheon Arena, Capsized, and Maximum Override. DuneCrawl appeared at the 2024 BitSummit as a featured game. This is a Japanese indie game development festival that was founded in 2012. The festival had appearances from gaming executives such as Shuhei Yoshida, Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya, and Tetsuya Mizuguchi.
