Game Review: One Small Quack for Ducks With ‘Duck Side of the Moon’
I recently had the pleasure of playing the new exploration game Duck Side of the Moon, both developed and published by Starbrew Games. You’ll take on an adventurous space faring duck named Doug, as you try to fix his ship while trying to find a new homeworld. After crash landing on an alien world, you’ll make new friends and do relaxing quests as part of your journey.
While some players may have some reservations about the size of the game’s two areas, these maps are both open-ended and rather large for a game of this size. Of course, when it comes to cozy games like this, there is no combat or death, instead purely focusing on exploration, gathering, and an incredibly wholesome story.
In total, it took me around five hours to complete the main story. To be completely honest, that is with spending a lot of time doing side quests, mining for materials, and trying to complete some of the achievements. In the end, however, I ended up stopping after seven hours because I wanted to make sure I did everything the game had to offer.
I have seen some discourse over the price versus the length of the game, and honestly, I feel like this adorable game is more than worth it. Duck Side of the Moon is available for purchase on Nintendo Switch and for PC, through both the Steam and Epic Games stores.
Quack among the stars in Duck Side of the Moon
Duck Side of the Moon is nothing but delightful. The intuitive movement of Doug involves controlling his walk, flying, and quacking, and all the gizmos you’ll use offer a mostly frictionless experience.
Once you start your adventure, the game will prompt you with naming your ship. I went with the default name for the ship, simply named “Space Waddler,” and while I could have chosen a different name, I found the default to be perfect.
Throughout my entire playthrough of this game, it felt like I was being comforted by a giant warm blanket. There are many things I enjoyed about my time with this short game, especially with how beautifully designed everything is here: the world, the characters, the gameplay, and the music. It’s all wonderful!
After you’ve settled from the crash landing, you’ll have a quick chat with the ship’s adorably named computer, Chippy, and then you can explore the first area, Lightholm. Your primary goal is to find out what’s happened to your ship and repair it as soon as possible. Thankfully, there is no time limit and no immediate pressure to get things done, but that doesn’t mean you should waddle slowly through the game.
Through the story beats of this game, you’ll be strongly encouraged to do the main quest of figuring out what the heck to do with your ship, with sidequests and minigames along the way. My preference when playing a cozy game like this is to just vibe things out and go with the flow.
I’ve played many games that could be described as both wholesome and cozy, but there is something that really stands out to me when playing a game such as Duck Side of the Moon. Sure, there are no real risks when gathering materials, locating a new friend, or building things, but I still felt compelled to do every task.
As you meet your new friends, called Geodes, you’ll have friendly chats with them; it felt like I was being welcomed into a new family. I’m not just talking about playing as Doug the Duck, although that is a part of it, but I felt a real connection with the world that Starbrew Games carefully crafted.
Enjoying this fun space adventure game
The moment I felt like everything clicked was about an hour into Duck Side of the Moon. I was working simultaneously on main and side quests, all while the wonderful soundtrack by Joost Rol was playing in the background. I thought to myself that this game is not something I wanted to rush through, as I already knew how short the game was even before I started to play.
I embraced everything the developers were doing right and savored every last drop of what this game was doing, including in finding and crafting every collectable. There are so many items to collect, such as clothing for Doug to wear, crafting materials for new gadgets, ship decorations, music discs to play on the ship’s jukebox, and more.
Even when you’re out collecting resources with the intention of crafting upgrades, keep in mind that there are more than enough gems and materials for everything to be made. What’s important is that if you find yourself playing Duck Side of the Moon is that you take your own approach and find what works well for you.
Final thoughts on Duck Side of the Moon
If you have already played Duck Side of the Moon and haven’t gone back to it, you’ll be happy to know that a recent update enabled players to travel back and forth between Boogiedale and Lightholm, the two areas of the game. I think it’s important to highlight this because if you’ve missed out on sidequests and other achievements from the first area, you were unable to go back here before this update.
I did catch myself returning to Lightholm and back to Boogiedale multiple times. Plus, after you’ve saved everyone from dangers in the snow and from a volcano, you’ll be treated to a really cute disco dance sequence.
My rating for this game: 4/5
Whether you are a seasoned gamer or this is the first time you’re dipping your toes into the waters of cozy games, Duck Side of the Moon won’t disappoint. Sure, the game can be 100% completed in about seven hours, but that shouldn’t matter because this is one of the more enjoyable games that has been recently released.
When you get towards the end of this game, you’ll find peace within Doug and the new friends he made along the way. Yes, that sounds cliché, but it’s honestly true. I hope that if you decide to grab this title, whether at full price or on sale, that you too will have as much of a sublime time as I did.
Also check out: Game Review: The Knightling Embarks on a Whimsical Adventure
