Game Review: Duck, Duck, Go!

DuckDuckGoDuck, Duck, Go!
Ape Games, 2008

Who doesn’t love rubber duckies? Who wouldn’t love to play a game that uses real rubber duckies for pawns? Not me. I LOVE ’em. And this game is the perfect combination of toy value, theme and good game play. Each game comes with a variety of rubber duckies, so each game is slightly different, and you can purchase other types of duckies to add variety to your game. The type of ducky has no game effect (other than “bird dogs” see below), so you can use superhero ducks, christmas ducks, or any other theme that you like.

Duck, Duck, Go! is a racing game, much like Robo Rally. In Duck, Duck, Go, you are duckies that are racing around a bathtub (modular board) trying to touch each buoy, and be the first to reach the drain. You move your duckie with movement cards played from your hand, and revealed simultaneously and resolved based on the numbers on the cards. The boards is modular and can be arranged to form many different combinations. Each board piece is made up of seven hexagonal spaces. Some spaces have life rings which act as transporters, and one piece has the drain. The buoys are cardboard pieces which can be placed in any location on the board. The game comes with a few “starter” board combinations, but you can change it up however you want, making this game have a lot of re-playability.

There is a basic game, and an advanced game included in the box. The advanced game adds some special actions, as well as a “bird” dog duckie. As a “catch up” mechanism, the last player “controls” the bird dog, using it to block or set back other players.

This is a good way to get kids to learn higher strategy games. The duckies are fun and the theme is entertaining. It’s a race, so it keeps the action going and keeps everyone in the game. The movement is more complex because it uses hexes instead of squares. Some people with spatial difficulties may have some problems with the movement.

I think this game may be out of print, so if you find a copy, pick it up. And pick up a few extra duckies while you’re at it.

Recommended.