The King Is Watching Devs Announce The Crab Is Walking

Hypnohead, the studio behind The King Is Watching, has revealed its next project: The Crab Is Walking, a roguelite city-builder that blends urban planning with tactical combat. Players will construct tetromino-shaped city districts on the back of a massive crustacean while commanding armies to battle wasteland creatures. A key difference from the developer's previous work is that the crab city requires no active monitoring to function—a departure from The King Is Watching's core mechanic.

The gameplay loop alternates between two main phases. During planning segments, players arrange and combine districts on a grid to boost production, fuel their chosen creature mount, or strengthen their military forces. Between these phases, armies engage in combat that appears to function as an autobattler system based on the announcement trailer. Each playthrough begins by selecting a different Ride—the creature serving as your city's foundation—and a Rider to lead forces into battle. The developer emphasizes that each Ride and Rider pairing creates distinct playstyles, encouraging experimentation across multiple runs.

Hypnohead frames the project as an opportunity to explore design directions that weren't feasible within The King Is Watching's constraints. The studio is working at a higher resolution, enabling more detailed pixel art and complex animations than its previous title. The team has also implemented more sophisticated unit behavior systems, expanded combat statistics, and a more refined user interface. These technical improvements reflect lessons learned from developing and supporting their earlier game.

When asked why they aren't pursuing a direct sequel, the developers explained that they remain committed to The King Is Watching, continuing to release new content and updates. An upcoming patch will emphasize gameplay variety, and the team has accumulated extensive design notes exploring where the original game's central mechanic could evolve. They acknowledged that player feedback has shaped their understanding of what makes The King Is Watching engaging, and they plan to apply those insights to future projects. The possibility of revisiting a sequel remains open, pending how their current ideas develop.

The announcement includes a playful acknowledgment that the developers appear to have already bent their own premise—one screenshot depicts a spider city rather than a crustacean one, a detail that undermines the game's thematic focus. The Crab Is Walking currently has no confirmed release date, though Hypnohead plans to begin playtesting in 2027.