Duck Game

Genre: Action-Platformer / Arcade

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local, Local Wireless, Online)

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Review:

Duck Game is a multiplayer-focused Arcade-style Action-Platformer released in 2015 on PC, ported to PlayStation 4 in 2017, then ported to Nintendo Switch in 2019. In this game, players play as ducks transported to one battlefield after another, scrambling to find weapons and then using them to blast away their opponents, with the last duck standing winning the round.

This game makes use of 2D pixel art visuals for the ducks and backgrounds with a style that seems a bit reminiscent of classic PC Platformers, with a theme-appropriate chiptune soundtrack. There’s nothing impressive here, but it all works well for a game that’s clearly focused on the action.

When it comes to that action, Duck Game is a blast, with every new level a frenetic run for a decent weapon and then trying to get in a good shot on your opponents while avoiding getting hit yourself. With most weapons in this game, one hit kills, and as such I can’t help but be reminded of Towerfall, though I don’t think Duck Game reaches quite the same heights of well-crafted gameplay as that game does. To its credit, it tries for something a bit different, instead having a wide selection of weapon types, and a large number of playable levels, as well as a custom level builder.

I suppose my biggest complaint is that weapons in this game tend to have long reload times, although in the game’s defense I suspect this is deliberate, punishing players for missed shots by leaving them as a sitting… er, duck. Also, by this point, the online lobbies for this game are largely abandoned, so if you want some competition you’ll have to bring it yourself.

However, for the most part this is some excellent fast-paced multiplayer mayhem, and I highly recommend it. The chaos and variety here is delightful, and as competitive multiplayer games go, this is one of the better options on Nintendo Switch.

tl;dr – Duck Game is a multiplayer-focused Arcade-style Action-Platformer where players control ducks looking for weapons to kill each other. The fast, frenetic action here is delightful, and while I do have a few complaints, overall this is a superb game for anyone looking to add a great competitive multiplayer game to their Nintendo Switch library.

Grade: B+

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