Ducks

2024 Ducks is a very simple little clicker game that is basically built around one thing, collecting as many ducks as I possibly can. I click to earn more ducks, collect different ones and slowly build up a bigger collection. There is not a huge story or complicated gameplay here, and I actually think that is part of the point. It is something I can open up, mess around with for a while and leave running in the background without having to put much thought into it. The collecting is the part I enjoy most. The game is built around getting different ducks, including limited and rarer ones, so there is a small sense of excitement whenever I manage to add something new to the collection. I like these kinds of simple games when the collection itself gives me enough reason to keep going. There is also something amusing about how seriously the game treats the idea of collecting a ridiculous number of ducks. It has a silly personality that works with how basic the gameplay is. There are also progression systems that give the clicking more purpose than it initially seems to have. The game has classes that can improve duck drops, crafting that can help with progression and a leveling system tied to the different classes. These systems give me something to work towards rather than simply making the number on the screen bigger forever. I like having small improvements that make the next part of the collection a little easier, although the overall loop is still very much an incremental one. The biggest weakness for me is how quickly I can see the limits of the gameplay. Clicking for ducks and collecting ducks is basically the whole experience, so there is only so much variety I can get from it. The progression systems add some extra decisions, but they do not completely change what I am doing. After the initial novelty wears off, I am mostly repeating the same process and waiting for the next useful reward. That makes it much better as a short casual game than something I would sit and play for hours. I also think the game could have done more with its duck collection idea. There is plenty of room for more interesting interactions between the ducks, more reasons to organise the collection or more meaningful uses for the things I earn. The basic systems work, but they feel more like a foundation than a fully developed idle game. I can appreciate the simplicity, especially because the game is free, but I still need enough variety to keep me interested over a longer period. The presentation is cute and fits the whole idea nicely. It does not try to be serious, and the simple two dimensional style makes sense for a game that is basically asking me to collect little ducks. I like that the game keeps its focus instead of covering the screen with unnecessary systems. It is also easy to understand almost immediately, which is useful for this type of casual experience. There is not much to learn, and sometimes that is exactly what I want from a small idle game. Overall, 2024 Ducks is a harmless and fairly enjoyable little clicker that gets the basic collecting loop right. I like building up the duck collection, working through the classes and using the extra progression systems to improve my drops. At the same time, the core gameplay is extremely limited and there is not enough variety for me to treat it as a deep idle game. For me, it works best as something I can play casually for short periods rather than something I would constantly return to. The cute presentation and silly idea give it some charm, but the lack of depth keeps the rating in the middle range. Rating: 6.8/10