[3] Crawl was designed to be more fast-paced and arcade-like than strategic, and includes genre-standard activities like collecting loot and upgradable weapons and magic items.

[1] Once player spirits possess "monster spawners" and traps in the active room, they cannot leave the form until they die or kill the main character.

[3] The game ends when a human hero reaches experience level 10, enters a portal, and defeats a final boss whose limbs are controlled cooperatively by the other players.

The game was expected for release on Steam Early Access in July 2014, but was delayed due to an issue pertaining to Powerhoof's taxes and formation as a company.

[7] The game was released on Steam Early Access on August 6, 2014 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux platforms.

[1][5] Pete Davison of USgamer wrote that the game bridged multiple genres and was an example of the resurgence of couch co-op's fashionability.