duck detective: the secret salami
review
one of my favorite things about game development being much more widespread is the rise of smaller, simpler experiences that are really just meant to fill an afternoon and nothing more. of those games, the frog detective series is a highlight; they’re cute, easy, and extremely basic mechanically. every game is essentially an excuse to introduce new characters for the titular investigator; it feels closer to watching a TV special than playing a video game.
when i saw the trailer for duck detective, it looked like pretty much the same thing. maybe a little more gruff, but largely appealing to the same audience of casual gamers looking for a silly little time waster. so, when it was on sale for a price i thought was right, i picked it up and gave it a shot.
was my comparison accurate? … ehh, yes and no. vaguely, yes, duck detective fills the same archetype of game as frog detective: short game about an animal detective solving a low-stakes mystery. but the similarities are all pretty surface level, and duck detective separates itself from its counterpart in some interesting ways, some of which are appreciated and some of which aren’t.
as i mentioned earlier, duck detective is a little more tonally distinct. it’s clearly parodying all of those “gruff, divorced, broke, lonely but genius detective just looking for his next case” stereotypes, which leads to a very different style of humor. there are some pretty good punchlines with great setup - pretty much everything with freddy tends to hit - but i found that a lot of the other jokes were kind of hit or miss. there are moments where it feels like the writers are trying a little too hard to force a joke where there shouldn’t be one, and that leads to some pretty awkward character interactions at various points throughout the game.
the actual story is totally fine. the detective is pulled in to solve some office drama about a salami thief, and ends up uncovering some other conspiracies while he’s at it. freddy is pretty silly as your fanboy/sidekick, and every other character in the office is fleshed out enough to feel real enough. it’s not narratively distinct, but it’s good fun, and - most importantly - is a good vessel to throw some jokes into.
gameplay-wise, it’s also a little more mechanically dense, with the actual investigations requiring just a little more thought. there’s a fill-in-the-gaps, mad libs-style mechanic for each clue, and you find the words you can use through finding various pieces of evidence around the environment, which i found pretty engaging. the only slightly annoying thing (and this is a pretty big nitpick) is that occasionally, you’re just kind of stuck searching for the final clue you need, because it’s tucked behind something you wouldn’t ever think to search. it’s a very small thing though, and that kind of comes with the territory when you’re making a detective game like this.
the changes really don’t make a huge difference in my enjoyment, though, because the game is still played in essentially the same context. it’s still a short, fun little burst of detective fun without a ton of bells and whistles. even with the extra stuff to do, it’s not mechanically dense or anything, and the different tone is just different, not necessarily better or worse.
so, as a whole, it’s good. i’m not sure i’d recommend it over frog detective, but i would definitely recommend the two alongside each other.
score
7/10
notes
- developed by Happy Broccoli Games
- published by Happy Broccoli Games
- released in 2024
- played on pc
- crossposted to backloggd