Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping Review
Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping. Happy Broccoli
Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping from Happy Broccoli Games is a quirky point‑and‑click adventure mystery that gave me exactly what I wanted: more Duck Detective. After the events of the first game, gumshoe and duck Eugene McQuacklin is a recently divorced, bread-addicted mess. He gets dragged off to a supposedly haunted campsite by his endearingly concerned alligator roommate, and then the game is afoot. As the famous duck detective, your task is to interview suspects and inspect environments to create conclusions that will ultimately solve the case.
Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping. Happy Broccoli
The story is an absurd noir satire full of humor. In typical noir style, the cute and eccentric animal cast hides secrets that motivate their actions and could make them suspicious, and it’s your job to unravel those threads. A VIP chess influencer and his exasperated assistant, a capybara with high military clearance and her young son, the pigeon camp manager with a shopping addiction—these are only a few of the characters I had the joy of spending time with and investigating. The Watson to McQuacklin’s Sherlock is his alligator roommate Freddy Frederson, and their evolving friendship through optional dialogue is one of the best parts of the game. The setting, a supposedly haunted glamping site, is a colorful backdrop that’s just the right size for this adventure game with its brief 2-3 hour length.
Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping. Happy Broccoli
The core gameplay is an intuitive and simplified version of the puzzle-solving from The Case of the Golden Idol. Examining places and objects and questioning the various characters gives you keywords that you must use to fill in “Deducktions,” mad-libs style puzzles that reveal truths about the investigation and progress the story. Two difficulty modes that affect how much feedback you get for mistakes in the puzzles and a hint system help ensure that you won’t ever get stuck. The game is meant to be a breezy experience, and even without help, there's no punishment for getting wrong answers—you can just try again.
The game’s charming hand‑drawn aesthetic is reminiscent of Paper Mario. The kooky isometric world of the glamping site is populated by flat, colorful character sprites with white outlines that help them stand out. Though the sound design and music—aside from the dedicated quack button—aren’t particularly memorable, the fully voiced dialogue performances are excellent.
Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping. Happy Broccoli
Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping is a brief but highly polished experience. I enjoyed every minute of it in a single sitting, thanks to the game’s look, clever writing, and charm. If you’re a noir or mystery fan, even if you haven’t played the first game, I highly recommend this one.
Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping is available now on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
Overall Score: 8/10
Played on: Steam Deck
