Duck Side of the Moon Review

Developed and published by Starbrew Games, Duck Side of the Moon is a cosy 3D platformer where players embody an exhausted and overworked duck protagonist. After crash-landing on a new world, Doug just might find a moment to rest.

I will start this off by being frank about a misunderstanding: after reading the Steam description, I thought the game would be like a short and contained survival crafting adventure, but with cosy and wholesome spicing on top. It turns out that it's a lot more like a 3D platformer with some exploration sprinkled in!

What happens within the first few minutes of crashing is what you can expect — for the most part — throughout the entire experience: a relaxing platformer with wholesome fetch quests. Thanks to Doug's expertise in floating around in space, players can boost themselves from one area to the next, looking for resources.

These are hard to miss: they're generally bright and big, and they respawn after a while of being picked. Although the land offers plenty of them, it's always worth checking hidden nooks and crannies for any side quests that might be hiding. Some of the missions I enjoyed the most were tucked away in quiet corners waiting to be discovered.

While the dialogue is rather simple (which I also didn't expect), I enjoyed the no-stress and cosy experience. It's the type of title you can pick up before bed on a handheld console and get relaxing before sleep, or catch up to the latest podcast episode as you explore space.

Duck Side of the Moon offers some customisation to the ship, but it wasn't what I expected: it's just pre-built areas that unlock with enough materials. More often than not, I had all that I needed for several of them, and I didn't visit them often after checking them out once or twice (except the storage room). This wasn't bad once I understood what awaited, but I did get a tad disappointed because I had imagined actual customisation.

Cosmetics can be found when exploring areas, which can be used in the ship's changing room. I loved finding them to add a twist to Doug with a new outfit, and I was elated to see a frog one! There were enough of them to keep me entertained, mixing and matching his style throughout my adventure, which surprisingly surpassed the six-hour mark without reaching 100% achievements.

Despite Duck Side of the Moon being a 3D platformer, I spent my time floating around and enjoying the freedom of boosting across each area. Starbrew Games did an excellent job at making lovely landscapes that really showed off space's beauty, especially on the OLED!

Duck Side of the Moon may not have been what I expected, but I enjoyed my time with it. It offers a relaxing journey that can be picked up at any point throughout the day, and it doesn't require a lot of attention or thought. It's a great option if you're looking for a no-stress, wholesome adventure to wind down from the day's weight.