Space, the final frontier. Ducks, the final Anatidae. No, wait, that doesn’t sound right. This game is about ducks and space, and that made me wonder, “Why has this not been done more often?” Humanity has spent decades trying to put people on the moon, rovers on Mars, and billionaires in orbit, but somehow we skipped over the most obvious candidate for interstellar exploration: a slightly confused waterfowl with questionable decision-making skills. Maybe that’s because ducks, by nature, already behave like they’ve seen things we haven’t. They waddle with dedication, stare into the void as it owes them money, and occasionally launch into flight with zero warning. Honestly, if any creature was destined to break the boundaries of Earth and venture into the great unknown, it was always going to be a duck. And so, in comes Duck Side of the Moon, a game that fully commits to that bit and then builds an entire experience around it. Let’s quack in.
Duck Side of the Moon
Duck Side of the Moon, developed by Starbrew Games, is a charmingly weird, surprisingly layered collectathon that blends classic platforming action with puzzle-driven progression and a light narrative thread that ties it all together. You play as a duck, yes, just a duck, who finds itself wrapped up in a spacefaring adventure that’s equal parts whimsical and oddly introspective. The premise leans into its own ridiculousness: a duck launched into space, navigating strange lunar environments, collecting items, solving puzzles, and uncovering fragments of a story that slowly reveals there’s more going on than just feathers and eggs in zero gravity. It’s not trying to be overly serious, but it also isn’t purely slapstick. It plays it straight and leaves the rest up to you, if you can look past the silly space duck.
A duck odyssey
This is what stands out early on, how Duck Side of the Moon frames its journey. This isn’t a bombastic, cinematic space epic filled with explosions and dramatic orchestral music. Instead, it opts for a more grounded (ironically) approach, focusing on exploration, curiosity, and the small, often overlooked details that make up its environments. The narrative is delivered in fragments through environmental storytelling, subtle cues, and collectible bits that slowly piece together the “why” behind your duck’s journey. It’s understated, but effective. You’re not being dragged through a story; you’re discovering it at your own pace, one collectible and upgrade at a time.
Gameplay-wise, Duck Side of the Moon firmly plants itself in the collectathon tradition, but it doesn’t feel like a relic of the past. Instead, it takes that familiar structure of gathering items, unlocking new areas, revisiting locations, and layers it with puzzle mechanics that give each objective enough meaning. You’re not just mining things because they’re there; you’re often required to think about how to reach them, how to manipulate the environment, or how to sequence your actions in a way that makes progress possible.
Movement plays a big role in how satisfying the gameplay feels. Your duck isn’t waddling around aimlessly; there’s a surprising amount of control and nuance to how you navigate the world. Jumps feel natural, gliding and flying mechanics add a layer of verticality, and the occasional high-speed-based interaction keeps things interesting. It never quite reaches the precision of hardcore platformers, but that’s not the point. The game is more interested in flow, encouraging you to experiment rather than punishing you for minor missteps, which made it a blast to play through with my kids.
Puzzles
The puzzles themselves range from straightforward to moderately challenging, often built around environmental interactions. You might need to activate switches in a certain order, manipulate objects to create pathways, or use your movement abilities in creative ways to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. What’s refreshing is that the game rarely resorts to frustration as a means of challenge. Once you understand what’s being asked of you, the solution usually feels achievable, even if it requires a bit of trial and error (looking at you again, mining levels).
That said, there’s a subtle escalation in complexity as you progress. Early sections ease you into the mechanics, giving you room to experiment without pressure. Later areas, however, start combining elements in ways that demand more careful planning and execution. It never becomes overwhelming, but it does expect you to pay attention. This gradual ramp-up keeps the experience engaging without alienating (ha, aliens) players who might not be looking for a punishing challenge. One of the more interesting aspects of the gameplay loop is how it ties exploration and puzzle-solving together. Collectibles aren’t scattered randomly, since they’re often integrated into the environment in ways that encourage you to observe your surroundings. You’ll find yourself scanning the horizon for subtle clues and revisiting areas with a fresh perspective once you’ve unlocked new upgrades. It taps into that classic “aha” moment that defines the best collectathons.
Visual ducks
Visually, Duck Side of the Moon manages to combine stylized charm and subtlety. The art direction leans into soft, slightly surreal lunar landscapes, with a color palette that shifts depending on the area you’re exploring. There’s a nice contrast between the whimsical nature of your duck protagonist and the quiet, geode-filled environments you traverse. It creates an interesting tone, one that’s playful on the surface but occasionally tinged with a sense of isolation, which fits the story of our Duckstronaut perfectly.
The character design is intentionally simple, but effective. Your duck is expressive in just the right ways, with small animations and reactions that give it personality without overdoing it. It’s easy to project onto, which helps anchor the experience even when the world around you starts to feel a bit abstract. And yes, you can make the duck quack endlessly. Environmental details, meanwhile, do much of the heavy lifting in storytelling. From scattered objects to subtle (or not so subtle) visual cues, there’s a consistent sense that each area has a history.
Completionism
However, and this is where things get a bit more demanding, the game’s structure introduces a notable challenge for players aiming to complete it 100% in a single run. Duck Side of the Moon employs a fairly strict point-of-no-return system, meaning that once you progress past certain moments, going back to collect missed items isn’t always possible. This design choice adds a layer of tension to exploration. On one hand, it encourages thoroughness and careful observation. On the other hand, it can feel a bit unforgiving, especially for players who prefer a more relaxed, backtracking-friendly approach. I missed one side mission on my first playthrough, which would mean I needed to go through another playthrough (around 4 hours) to complete the final challenges.
This isn’t necessarily a flaw, but it does shift how you engage with the game. Instead of casually moving forward and trusting you can clean up later, you’re incentivized to take your time, double-check areas, and think more deliberately about your progression. For completionists, this can be both rewarding and slightly stressful. Missing a single collectible because you moved on too quickly can sting. Still, there’s something to be said for a game that commits to its structure. By limiting backtracking, Duck Side of the Moon maintains forward momentum, keeping the pacing tight. You’re always moving ahead, always discovering something new, and rarely stuck in a loop of revisiting old areas just to tick off a checklist. It’s a trade-off, and whether it works for you will largely depend on how you approach games like this.
Duckclusion
In the end, Duck Side of the Moon is one of those experiences that thrives on its identity. It knows exactly what it wants to be, a slightly odd but thoughtful collectathon with a duck in space, and it delivers on that vision without overcomplicating things. The combination of exploration, puzzle-solving, and understated storytelling creates a cohesive experience that’s easy to get lost in. There are moments where the pacing could feel a bit uneven, and the point-of-no-return system won’t be for everyone. But these are relatively minor bumps in an otherwise smooth journey. The game balances humor and sincerity successfully. It’s a rather complicated mix, but one that Duck Side of the Moon handles with surprising ease.
So yes, it turns out ducks do belong in space as fully-fledged protagonists of their own strange, compelling adventures. Duck Side of the Moon may not change what a collectathon can be, but it absolutely reminds you why the genre works in the first place; this is one quacktastic space adventure.
