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It doesn’t matter how old you are there is something special about going to the duck pond. It is even better if you get to feed the ducks and then watching as they come waddling out of the water and follow you around like little soldiers in the hope of another tasty treat.
Ducks In Tow from First Fish Games (designed by Stephanie Kwok) is a relaxing game for one to four players all about visiting the ducks, feeding them and hopefully leading them to their favourite locations.
Ducks In A Row
The aim of the game is to accrue the most points in two ways, firstly by scoring 1 point per duck in a connected row (for all four colours of ducks) on your completed location cards. Second by claiming the formation cards which match your duck patterns on your location cards. Scores will vary between 15 and 20 points per game and more often than not the difference between winning and losing will only be one point.
Before I continue with the review I wanted to point out the amazing card quality and components which are of the highest level. The duck meeples are adorable and will attract everyone to your table.
The game plays out like a very simple pick up and deliver game and on your turn you have four actions from which you can choose to:-
- Move to a new adjacent location
- Feed ducks at your location by giving them the food they like (same colour as the ducks). You then place these ducks on your tow
- Shake the bag. You take out a random duck from the duck bag in the hope you have the food type in your possession and therefore add it to your tow
- Drop off. Drop off the ducks in your tow that match the location you are at and the location card in your possession. You then place this location card in your display
- If at the gift shop location you can gain food and / or new location cards
- Claim a formation card if the pattern of ducks matches the ducks on your completed location cards
- Adopt. If you are at the heart location you may remove two ducks from your tow and place one on an empty space on your completed location cards. This will help with final scoring and with claiming the formation cards.
Once you have used all four actions you place ducks back on the board then refill your food and location cards in hand. The game continues like this until a certain number of location cards are played or the last formation card is claimed.
Quack Quack
The gameplay really matches the theme as it feels like a relaxing Sunday at the duck pond without any need for a rush. Sure there are other people feeding the ducks and maybe they have just attracted the attention of the yellow one I wanted but it’s okay as another yellow one will be along in a minute. But with this lazy relaxing feeling also comes some gameplay issues.
It really is a solitaire multiplayer experience, it doesn’t matter who adopts a certain duck as you can just change your plans or go looking for another duck. The only real urgency is the formation cards and not everyone I have taught this to has been able to visualise what they need to do to claim them so they end up ignoring them and not scoring very high at the end of the game.
Ducks In Tow: Final Thoughts
This ended up being a harder review to write than I was expecting as I love the theme and components but I just did not enjoy the gameplay. After a few plays I felt I had seen all the game had to offer and each game felt the same as the previous one.
The lack of player interaction fits the theme but in reality it makes for a solitaire multiplayer experience, which is normally okay for me but there is no real urgency to the game. There is a solo mode included in the game which feels exactly the same as the main game so after a few plays I was just doing the same thing over and over.
The game does include a mode for younger players (with simpler rules) and this may be where the games benefits lies as you can play it with younger children who will be excited to play with the ducks. For me though there is not enough to keep me coming back for more.
I really wanted to love this game, especially as it has the cutest duck meeples ever created, but in the end I would only really recommend this to people who really love ducks and duck ponds.