Hello ladies, gentlemen and those of a non-binary nature, my name is Daibhi and this is the Gamerhub community. Duck Detective: The Secret Salami wasn’t a game initially in my pigeonhole, but due to issues with my workload, I ended up getting it in the post to review. That being said, like the Untitled Goose Game, this one came a genuine and pleasant surprise. Is it my favourite game of 2024? Did I get a load of goodies with it? Did I find myself waddling to my nearest Game to get this for someone else? All will be revealed.

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami was developed and published by what has to be my favourite indie developer currently, Happy Broccoli Games. Hailing from Germany, these people have made this slender mallard of a game, as well as The Kraken Academy. Both their games are available to play on Steam, but for the sake of transparency, I played Duck Detective: The Secret Salami on the Nintendo Switch. The game was initially released in May and is available to play on Linux, MacOS, Windows and the Nintendo Switch.

Plot

We very rarely get a good detective game on consoles these days. We have the occasional good one, but unless you’re a Pokémon fan or Professor Layton fan, a good mystery is hard to come by. If this is you, fear not, because this game has a mystery that’s actually quite enthralling. Eugene McQuacklin is a hard bread eating detective that’s down on his luck. He’s down to a spare bit of change and a bus fare and is thus hired to find out who ate someone’s salami sandwiches. There’s noting innovative about the plot in general, but there doesn’t need to be. Just because a duck has been properly roasted doesn’t mean that you need extra orange sauce. Because this game is new, it’s a whodunit (or “who-quacked-it”) and I very much want you to purchase this game, I won’t ruin the plot. What I will say is that it’s a surprisingly good mystery.

Gameplay

Blimey, I wasn’t prepared for how solidly goose (sorry, “good”) the gameplay is. To work out who committed the fowl and heinous act of stealing the sandwich, the game gives you a lot. For my packaged version on the switch, Happy Broccoli Games even provided me with physical stimuli in the form of cardboard cutouts to help me work out who had stolen the sarnie. To complete the mystery, you must explore each room as provided and note down the clues, being very careful as you interview each suspect.

Once you have everything noted down in your diary, then deducktions can be made. Be very careful to get them right, because the wrong answers will send you back to square one. This can lead you to either breeze through it in 2-3 hours, or, if you’re the more careful sort of duck, about 6 hours. Finally, yes hubbers, there is a button to let you quack on command. Sorry for driving you mad, Hannah.

Visuals

This game isn’t going to win awards for realism, as the graphics are all cartoony. That being said, given the tone of this game, I don’t think you’d want realism as you embrace your inner Sherflock Holmes. The game is careful not to put tones in too dark a hue, and keeps the game necessarily light when required. The artwork itself is also a joy. Pro tip for the Switch users among us: Dock your switch and go to the controller mode when playing this game. That way you can truly appreciate the beauty of all the hand-drawn backgrounds and characters. Even our trusty mallard looks like something straight out of a kids TV show, and yeah, the humour in this game matches at times. One polite request (although another one will be made later on in this review) is that the game adapts for those who are colourblind. From an accessibility standpoint, this might save some gamers a lot of time, and help their enjoyment more.

Soundtrack

There’s not too much to quack on about here. (Sorry for the duck puns, put it on my bill). The soundtrack is fun and lively, but in truth, this isn’t where the budget for this game went, and it shows. I’m not going to rage on it too badly as there’s nothing out of place. There are no discordant notes throwing you off the trail of breadcrumbs and driving the s/o mad by making Eugene McQuacklin quack constantly was fun. Parents, I’d advise not telling your kids about this particular feature. There is a nice air of mystery in terms of the tone of some of the music, and like the length of this game and the height of the protagonist, it’s a bit… short.

Replayability

This is where this game has some good points, and some bad points. Let’s get the Aylesbury Duck in the room out of the way first. This game is first and foremost a whodunit. Once you know, you know. There’s no way of putting that duck back into the pot with Hoisin sauce. That being said, there’s a beautiful feature in this game that hearkens back to the heady days of Telltale Games. With each deducktion you make, the game logs it and compares it to everyone else’s. This shows you who made what choice and when, and it’s actually really interesting. I found that my Shelduck Holmes made choices only 24% of gamers made at times. But for you, I don’t know. I’m not Psyduck. I can’t get a headache and see through to when you play it, but I’d be keen to see.

The other drawback of this game is length. Being generous and careful with my first playthrough, it took me 6 hours and 24 minutes. On my second playthrough, where I raced through the game like I race through my Chinese food, it took me 3 hours. Realistically, it’s going to take you this long to quack on through the game, and there’s little to bring you back to it. This leads me to my suggestion to Super Rare Games and Broccoli Games- This format of games lends itself to the episodic format. If I stop wedging in duck puns for the sequel, can we have one please? I really, really ducking enjoyed playing this game, and it’s been a lovely change of pace.

Final thoughts

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is a great game to play, and it’s suitable for all ages. Walking that fine line between satire and parody, the humour rarely commits either way, leaving you with moments that will have you quackling with laughter. There are some really really fun bits, and whilst the length will have you begging for more, this game is a suitable game for gamers of all ages. I really loved what I got from Super Rare Games (thank you folks), and I would urge you to buy it on Steam here.

I give this game:

4.3/5 Joysticks

It’s probably my indie Game of the year.

For the Gamerhub, I’ve been Daibhi and you are all legends.

Ducks are friends, not food.