A more light-hearted and family-friendly take on the Case of the Golden Idol formula, though not nearly as good. In terms of presentation, the game can't be faulted. Its aesthetic is clearly inspired by Paper Mario, but it uses it well. There's some funny jokes, some charming characterisation, and despite the incredibly short running time, Duck Detective can't help but make an impression.

Where it all comes undone a bit is in the balance (or rather imbalance) of its puzzle solving. The game features deduction sequences ripped straight from Golden Idol, where the player is required to choose the correct nouns and verbs in order to piece together what has happened. The problem is, most of the time you can easily solve these through trial and error, without truly understanding what events have transpired. The game tells you when two or less choices are incorrect, and it also tells you when exactly three are incorrect. Using this knowledge, you can eventually luck into completing a sequence. Hardly befitting of a great detective! There's also one puzzle involving a safe code that, in my opinion, was just too dang cryptic for its own good. Even the hint system couldn't help me out with that one.

A pleasant enough diversion for an evening, but I wouldn't flock to the Steam page to buy it at full price if I were you.