Mini Review: Duck Detective: The Ghost Of Glamping (Switch)

A duck dons a fedora and a trench coat, presenting a noir-inspired monologue about how his recent separation has intensified his bread obsession. If this picture doesn’t amuse you, then you’d best skip Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping. If it does, oh boy, do we have a recommendation for you.

Similar to developer Happy Broccoli’s previous title, The Secret Salami, Ghost of Glamping tosses you into the petty crime-filled realm of Eugene “The Duck Detective” McQuacklin, a weathered PI who serves as both the game’s hero and narrator. Unwillingly tagging along with his reptilian roommate on a vacation to a nearby haunted glamping locale (yes, indeed), McQuacklin is once again left to confront Lady Crime, as a seemingly trivial enigma concerning some pilfered camping chairs rapidly escalates into something much grander.

This time, there’s an extorted influencer, secret state intelligence, a kidnapping, and an encounter with the supernatural to navigate, all of which can solely be resolved through interviewing suspects, searching for clues, and subsequently inserting the correct pieces of information into the ‘Deducktions’ section of McQuacklin’s reliable journal.

It’s a straightforward gameplay routine, and while some of the ‘fill in the blank’ investigations tend to become a bit of a trial and error as you populate the prompt sentence with a collection of gathered nouns to ultimately discover the right response, Ghost of Glamping succeeds in balancing predictability and intrigue. We anticipated certain plot twists from quite a distance, but we valued how other storylines were subtly unraveled over the ~two-hour duration.

A hint system is available, in case the evidence has really confounded you, and the game can be switched between ‘Story’ and ‘Sleuth’ modes at any moment (the former highlights your incorrect Deducktions to steer you in the right direction), but anyone acquainted with titles like Ace Attorney or Professor Layton shouldn’t face too much difficulty solving the case.

And that’s perfectly fine! Ghost of Glamping isn’t the type of mystery that’ll burrow under your skin and refuse to let go until you reveal its culprit. In fact, its storyline is almost auxiliary to its presentation. McQuacklin’s dramatic monologues (all fully voice-acted, should we mention), the charming Paper Mario-inspired cutout sprites, the infectious jazz soundtrack, and the side-splitting loading screens that boast such ‘facts’ as “Most ducks inhabit homes because they are incredibly wealthy” culminate in a bite-sized mystery that exudes charm. Come on, there’s even a specialized quack button!

You’ll easily breeze through it in an evening, and you’ll feel much better for it. Happy Broccoli has once again assembled a simple yet fulfilling mystery that brings plenty of smiles and a few surprises. Now, if you’ll pardon us, we’ve got to put on our fedoras and go deliver a brooding monologue in the rain.