Our first impressions of CRACK, a co-op game where you and your friends work together to crack open giant eggs and deal with whatever happens to be inside.
Some games ask you to save the world; others send you on an epic adventure. CRACK, on the other hand, gives you a much simpler job: crack giant eggs. Developed by Rafoli, this quirky co-op game puts you to work in a facility where your main responsibility is breaking open enormous eggs and collecting whatever you can find inside.
I wasn't sure what to expect going into CRACK, but I ended up enjoying the ridiculousness of it all. The work itself is fairly simple, and doing the same tasks over and over can get tedious, but there's a certain charm to spending your day cracking open giant eggs.
Behind the laboratory doors
The first thing you notice about CRACK's laboratory is how seriously it treats the whole operation. There's a whole manual explaining every step of the process, management is constantly sending out announcements through the loudspeakers, and everything is kept on a need-to-know basis. It's almost as if the game is trying to convince you that this is a normal, everyday job, when in reality, things couldn't be weirder.
That secrecy starts to make a lot more sense as you get access to other parts of the facility. Behind the usual work routines, there are new rooms to unlock and scattered clues to find, gradually revealing that there's a much bigger story behind the operation.
Of course, no workplace is complete without a few colleagues, and CRACK lets you bring along up to three friends for the shift. Having everyone work together makes an already chaotic setup even worse, especially when nobody seems to be taking their job particularly seriously.
Making the most of your shift
Working your way through an egg means switching between different tools to get through its layers and collect the materials inside. The tricky part is that you're not dealing with an empty shell. There's a living creature inside, and all that drilling and chipping is bound to get on its nerves. As it becomes increasingly agitated, you'll need to use sedatives to keep it under control before it starts causing trouble.
But even this won't fix the problem; it only delays the inevitable. Eventually, the creature will become so agitated that strange things will start to happen, from critter infestations and electromagnetic fields to blackouts, with plenty more that I won't spoil. It's safe to say you have your work cut out for you.
In the middle of all this chaos, you still need to carry on with your job: collecting materials and getting them to the delivery point, using either buckets or carts.
Just like in any incremental game, all your earnings in CRACK go towards making the whole operation run a little more smoothly. You can upgrade your tools, improve your buckets and carts, and even purchase workbots to help with the workload. But don't be fooled: these little helpers like to break down, so you'll need to spend time repairing them before they can get back to work.
Overall, I found this gameplay loop pretty fun and satisfying. However, there's no getting around the fact that you're essentially repeating the same tasks for hours, which can start to wear thin if you're playing alone. With friends, though, it's a different story. Having up to three other players alongside you makes even the most repetitive parts entertaining, especially when things inevitably go wrong and everyone is left scrambling to deal with the chaos.
Final thoughts
CRACK is a ridiculous idea that somehow makes for a genuinely enjoyable game. While the repetitive nature of the work means I wouldn't necessarily spend hours playing it alone, having friends around changes the experience considerably.
Since the game's Steam launch on October 26, 2026, Rafoli has already been listening to player feedback and introducing changes, including Chill Mode, which offers a more relaxed way to approach the game. It's encouraging to see the developers taking an active role in improving the experience, and I'm curious to see what else they have planned. If you've got a few friends looking for something different to play together, CRACK is well worth checking out.
