TinyBuild and Hypnohead have announced The Crab Is Walking, a new roguelite city builder for PC in which an entire settlement travels across a post-apocalyptic world on the back of a giant creature. The project comes from the developer behind The King Is Watching and was revealed alongside a new Steam page detailing its central building, progression and survival systems. A release date has not yet been announced.
The core concept revolves around constructing a functioning settlement on the creature’s limited shell. Buildings come in different shapes and must be fitted into the available space, forcing players to consider how structures interact as the settlement grows. Buildings can also be merged and upgraded over the course of a run, turning the creature itself into a moving base rather than giving players a conventional fixed city.
Each journey is built around risk management as the giant creature moves through a ruined landscape. Players will be able to choose between safer paths and more dangerous routes promising greater rewards, creating a roguelite structure in which decisions made during travel affect how the settlement develops. The game also includes military progression, with players raising an army to deal with threats encountered along the way.
Hypnohead describes the game as a separate project from The King Is Watching rather than a replacement for it. The studio has confirmed that support for its existing title will continue, including the Crowns of Fiction DLC and an accompanying free content update currently planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. That means The Crab Is Walking is being developed alongside ongoing post-launch work rather than marking the end of the studio’s previous game.
The new project appears to carry over Hypnohead’s interest in tightly constrained strategy systems while changing the broader structure considerably. Instead of managing a static kingdom, players are working with a moving settlement whose usable space is defined by the back of a giant creature. The need to arrange differently shaped buildings, combine them and decide which routes to take gives the city-building layer a puzzle-like element alongside the roguelite progression.
TinyBuild is publishing The Crab Is Walking, continuing its focus on distinctive indie strategy and simulation projects. The announcement came as part of tinyBuild Connect 2026, where the publisher revealed and showcased several upcoming games. Unlike some of the publisher’s more traditional city builders, The Crab Is Walking is structured around repeated runs and changing travel decisions rather than maintaining a permanent settlement in one location.
The post-apocalyptic setting also gives the game a clear visual identity. Promotional material shows the enormous creature carrying a dense cluster of structures while moving through a devastated landscape, making the settlement itself part of the character of each run. The concept places the player in control of both expansion and survival, with every new structure competing for a limited amount of room.
For now, tinyBuild and Hypnohead have only confirmed The Crab Is Walking for PC via Steam. The store page is live for wishlisting, but the publisher has not announced pricing, an Early Access plan or a launch window. More details about combat, progression between runs and the exact consequences of choosing different routes are expected as development continues.
