Dodo Duckie Review

Platformers don’t get enough love on consoles these days, in my opinion. Growing up with Sonic and Mario, we seem to still be reliant on both of them to come up with the goods. Dodo Duckie is a charming and unique new entry into the genre from developer BornMonkie. I feel like everyone has a soft spot for ducks; they are harmless, chilled birds that just like a bit of food chucked their way now and again. In this experience, you’ll be able to switch between 2D and 3D perspectives to solve puzzles, explore the levels and navigate what the game has to offer. The game is now available on Xbox Series X/S and features Xbox Play Anywhere, letting you play on PC and your handheld with one purchase.

Gameplay

Dodo Duckie is a simplistic platformer with the unique twist of switching perspectives in order to explore and solve puzzles. Gameplay is super casual and never too challenging, with light puzzles that involve switching through the two perspectives. You can collect coins and feathers, and it isn’t long before you converse with Capie the Capybara. Spending coins and feathers with them allows you to don various cosmetics and a range of wacky and colourful hats if you always wanted to see what a duck with a sombrero looked like. Controls are simple to get to grips with, and even players who have never invested in playing games can get used to how the game functions.

Visuals & Audio

Dodo Duckie is visually basic across the board, but that doesn’t make it a bad-looking game by any means. Backdrops are colourful and well-designed across the various levels, and switching between 2D and 3D viewpoints offers alternative viewing angles. Going into the game blind, I was pleasantly impressed with how the switching works. Navigating some aspects of the game only works by switching views, and it gives the brain something to think about. Brilliant for teaching the very young ones co-ordination skills and challenging them with some of the puzzles.

Animations are well designed with Duckie using the powers of gliding, swimming, moving objects and more throughout the gameplay. Sound effects are well executed alongside a soundtrack that suits the atmosphere of the different environments you’ll encounter.

Final Thoughts

Dodo Duckie is aimed at the more casual players out there and those with younger players, and that’s totally fine. Consoles are crying out constantly for more family-friendly titles for kids to engage with. Distracting my eight-year-old son from the constant rotation of Fortnite and Roblox was achieved successfully with this game. Unfortunately, the game is quite short and sweet, with around four or so hours to run through the whole game, but it is quality over quantity here. Sadly, there isn’t much reason to go back and play it once you’re finished. So from my perspective, it is a one-and-done playthrough, but it comes highly recommended for the kids out there.

If you fancy picking up a copy for Xbox Series X/S or even for PC/Handheld as well with that lovely Xbox Play Anywhere feature, you can do so HERE.