Ducks in a Row

[b]7/10[/b] Very retro (in a good way) pathfinding puzzle with a touch of Snake. [b]What is it:[/b] A puzzle game in which you have to gather all the ducklings and reach the exit. Whenever you go near a duckling, it joins the queue, forming a long “snake”, so most of the puzzles are about managing your snake length: don’t get too long when you still need to get into tight rooms, get long enough to have a tail to stop you from sliding, keep your length odd to flip a switch, trim your tail and reattach it later… https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3317951249 There are four worlds. The first one (park) has just ducks, buttons, switches and gates. The second one (icy) introduces ice patches on which you slide until you hit something. The third one (factory) introduces conveyor belts that push you in a certain direction. And the fourth one (moon) introduces portals. The levels are good, mostly easy, but a few are a bit challenging. The presentation is very retro, pixel graphics with options to make it look like an original green and darker green GameBoy screen, or black and beige dot matrix, or low-bit colors, and primitive (in a good way!) chirpy sounds. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3317951919 Overall, the game looks and feels like something you’d find on a GameBoy back in the early nineties, and is a nice retro puzzle to enjoy for a couple of hours. The few blocker issues at the time of the release have been quickly fixed by the developers. There’s no undo, and it could really use it. [strike]The last 5 levels don’t unlock properly and can’t be played. The Linux/SteamDeck build is completely broken. The input scheme is very awkward and hard to discover.[/strike] [b]How hard is it:[/b] Mostly easy, with a few more mildly challenging levels. [b]How long is it:[/b] 60 levels, 1-3 hours. Each world has 10 normal levels you can play in any order, and 5 bonus levels that unlock when solving all the normal levels. The next world also requires solving just the 10 normal levels. [b]Level design:[/b] Decent. Very easy levels at the start of every world, showing how the new mechanics work. Decent mechanics. Fairly distinct levels. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3317947494 [b]Quality:[/b] The awkward controls and some missing QoL bring down the quality a bit but the idea is great. No undo. Decent level select, [strike]except that after finishing a level you always go back to level 1 and need to navigate to what you want to play next[/strike]. Works with a keyboard or a controller, and the keys are configurable. The mouse can be used to click on menu entries, but not for playing levels. No input caching. Decent audio and video settings, including emulating the horrible graphics of the first generation LCDs, and a dark mode. Retro pixel graphics, but sometimes it’s very hard to see ducklings. Good retro music and sound effects. No cloud saving. Progress achievements. Fast and responsive. [b]Worth the price:[/b] A bit expensive, wait for a discount. [b]Most positive aspect for me:[/b] Good retro gaming experience. [b]Most negative aspect for me:[/b] No undo! [b]What would make it better:[/b] Undo! Cloud saving. [strike]Level select screen should put me in the last level I played, not the first one.[/strike] Even better, automatically open next level when finishing the current one. [strike]Fix the bug that causes the last 5 levels to not stay unlocked. Fix the Linux build.[/strike] [strike]Add a white on black (dark mode) palette.[/strike] Make Space and Esc work better. [strike]Esc in a level should open up the menu instead of resetting.[/strike] Space in the in-level Reset/Quit menu should push the selected button instead of closing the menu. [strike]Space should start the selected world/level, it’s called “start” in the keyboard config screen but it doesn’t actually start anything.[/strike] (actually Enter is for selecting). Add a highlight button that highlights all the ducklings, sometimes it’s hard to see them. Add input caching. [quote]For more puzzle game reviews, news and everything puzzle-related, follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/25928931-Puzzle-Lovers/]Puzzle Lovers[/url] and check out our [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/puzzlelovers]Steam group[/url].[/quote] [quote]Follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/quote]