Duck Detective’s sequel showed me the whimsy in modern point-and-click games

Puzzle detective games and I don’t always get on. I’m someone who loves a bit of humor and color in my games, and so many point-and-click puzzle games are gritty, serious, and challenging. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I’m in the mood for a tricky conundrum, but I often find that games in this genre lack the levity I’m after.

While there are some notable exceptions, specifically the Professor Layton series, over the years, I’ve avoided dipping my toe into these popular detective games like Broken Sword or Return of the Obra Dinn for fear of getting stuck or the subject matter getting too serious. So that’s why I’m glad that Happy Broccoli Games’ Duck Detective has helped me to see the genre in a new light.

I’ve not played the original title from 2024, but after playing Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping and cackling my way through every single interaction, I definitely will be picking it up soon. These two point-and-click puzzle games follow the story of the Duck Detective, Eugene McQuacklin, in a parody noir style full of duck puns and bread. So much bread. In The Ghost of Glamping specifically, he’s living in a crappy apartment, going through a divorce, and not providing anything for his poor roommate Freddy. Honestly, Eugene throughout this entire game is the worst man/duck around, but the game encourages you to laugh at his failures.

Eugene’s roommate decides that he needs a vacation, so the two of them travel to Sunny Lake campsite to meet up with Freddy’s girlfriend and find themselves embroiled in a mystery filled with ghosts, old flames, and military secrets. The story only takes two to three hours to complete, and it’s perfectly self-contained. It’s beginner-friendly from a puzzle-solving and deduction perspective, without being overly predictable. Some of the story beats took me completely by surprise, but they still made sense within the narrative.

I also didn’t realize before booting up The Ghost of Glamping on my Switch that the game is fully voice-acted, so that was an incredible surprise. The entire cast is committed to the bit, especially Sean Chiplock as Eugene and Brian David Gilbert as Freddy. The two of them have hilarious chemistry, and Chiplock’s ‘gritty noir detective’ voice-over is so absurd in the context of anthropomorphic animals helping a chess influencer find his missing scarf.

Usually, I find using cursors in games on the Switch really difficult, but during the few instances it occurs in this game, it felt intuitive. You collect the majority of your clues by talking to people and navigating an isometric-style map, so using the magnifying glass doesn’t feel like a chore, especially as once you’ve investigated the key points of a clue, you can view it in detail at any time.

My one complaint about this game is that the eerie green lighting in certain areas makes seeing whether or not you’ve used all of your dialogue options a bit of a challenge, but otherwise, I would recommend this game to practically anyone. I love a good mystery, and I especially love it when puzzle games can make me feel smart without requiring hours of my time. Happy Broccoli Games has truly struck the balance between interesting puzzles, funny and engaging plot, and intuitive controls with this sequel, and I sincerely hope that Eugene and his friends return for many more adventures.

If you’re after more soft additions to your Switch library, be sure to check out our list of the best cozy games. We’ve also got a guide to the best point-and-click games on portable platforms, including the grittier entries.